Not Alone
by Gilari
Summary: What if the Face of Boe had meant someone else when he told the Doctor that he was not alone? That day on Bad Wolf Bay, Rose lied. Set after series 3, TenRose Complete!
1. Prologue

What if the Face of Boe had meant someone else when he told the Doctor that he was_ not alone_? That day on Bad Wolf Bay, Rose lied. Set after series 3, TenRose

Disclaimer: Mine? Nope.

There had been rumours floating around for years about the Deputy Head of Torchwood One. The mysterious long lost daughter of the energy drink tycoon had just shown up one day 8 years ago, and all but taken over. It wasn't that she planned a hostile takeover or anything, it was just that Torchwood was in shambles after the Cybermen, and she knew a freakish amount about the alien threats that they had to deal with on a daily basis.

When she had first come, she had the air of someone who was trying to bury themselves in their job. She came early; she didn't leave till late; she did an amazing amount in those first few months and by the end of her first year there, she was already being promoted. Over the years she had gotten less tense, though the air of frantic activity had never left. Even after all this time, the ocean of sadness behind her eyes had never really gone away.

Most people figured it had to do with the man in the picture on her desk. Besides the one of her family, it was the only one adorning her cluttered desk. In that picture, she was happy, as no one in Torchwood had seen her. She was grinning from ear to ear, leaning her head against the shoulder of a tall man with adorably messy brown hair and a pinstriped suit. They were leaning against a blue box, and the man had his arm around her shoulders. Most of the rumours had to do with this man. Scorned lover? Dead husband? Left her for someone younger? Nobody knew (though speculation ran wild) but over the years had died out some. But still, every time a new recruit showed up all the theories were aired out and displayed once more.

There would not have been so much speculation if Ms Tyler had been more forthcoming with information about this mysterious man. If anyone was brash enough to ask her about him, her face suddenly became stormy, and she would fall silent. She did not cry any more, but in the beginning she had. Her tears seemed to have dried up, replaced by a cheery indifference that was painful to watch. But she could not deny that the man in the picture still upset her.

Mostly the only information that she would give out about him was to curtly acknowledge that he was Jonathan's father, and that she was never going to see him again. Most people wisely left it at this. Those who enquired further were met with frosty silence, and angry glares from coworkers.

AN: Have had this idea floating around in my head since I watched Doomsday. Is anyone else out there a hopeless romantic?


	2. Typical Day

If there was one constant in Rose Tyler's new life, it was that she was always in a hurry. Being a Deputy Director meant that there was no time for anything. As it was, she was late picking Jonathan up from school. As she rushed around her office, collecting her various scattered belongings, Amber walked in, her arms laden with folders.

"I don't want to see that, Am." Rose said, not looking up from rummaging in her handbag.

"Can't help it," replied Amber, wincing as she dumped the folders on the already cluttered desk, "Torchwood Two is requisitioning more supplies. Oh, and the Rift has been fluctuating recently."

"Brilliant," Rose muttered, "that's all we need, more stuff to come floating through. Have you seen my keys?"

Amber held them up with one finger.

"Thanks, have to run and pick up Jonathan in… well, five minutes ago." Rose said, looking very harried.

"I keep telling you, we could send an aid to do that. _I_ could do that. I am your assistant for a reason," Amber said, with the air of one who knows what the answer will be.

"I know," Rose called over her shoulder as she rushed out the door, only to return a few moments later to snatch up her coat.

They had this discussion every day. Amber seemed to regard this daily ritual of picking Jonathan up from school as a chore. Rose saw it as the one shining part of her day. The school was across town, but Rose didn't mind. It gave her a chance to get out of her office building, to forget that she was Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth, and just be Rose, loving mother. Jonathan was her light, her salvation, and her one shining reason for living. She believed with all her heart that if it hadn't been for him, she would have curled up and died years before.

The school parking lot was crowded, but Rose managed to find a spot. Poor Jonathan had been waiting for 15 minutes now, and she felt intensely guilty about that. Doing up the buttons on her smart tan coat against the harsh early spring breeze, she walked over to the playground. It was almost deserted, but for a lone teacher standing on the pavement, and a few kids still playing on the equipment.

"Ms Tyler," the teacher acknowledged with a nod of her head, "how are you today?"

"Rushed as ever, Mrs. Stanton," Rose replied with a smile, which widened when a small boy with flyaway brown hair came running up to her, hugging her legs enthusiastically.

"Hi, Mum," he, a huge grin spreading over his features, "can I play for a few more minutes with Tom?"

Rose consulted her watch, which, despite her otherwise professional attire, was still the Mickey Mouse one the Doctor had got her for her Twentieth birthday.

"Five more minutes, yeah? But only because it's your birthday tomorrow" she said, "then I have to get back."

"Mkay!" Jonathan said, before running off to join his friend once more.

"Jonathan is an exceptionally bright child," Mrs. Stanton said, watching his retreating figure, "he's picking up concepts so quickly I can hardly keep pace,"

Rose smiled gently, "That doesn't surprise me. He's just exactly like his father,"

"If I may ask, Ms Tyler, where is Jonathan's father?" Mrs. Stanton asked, casting a fugitive glance at her companion.

Rose stood silent for a moment, wonder what she could say. _He's stuck on another dimension, has no idea he has a son, and has probably moved on without me_?

"He… left." She settled for, "Never came back. Doesn't even know about Jonathan,"

"I'm sorry," Mrs. Stanton offered, before hastily dropping the subject, "But I've been meaning to talk to you about moving Jonathan up another level. Everything we do is too easy for him,"

"Again?" Rose asked.

"Well, yes. He's already mastered the entire curriculum for next year. I had him tested, and his IQ is off the scale for a boy his age. His class project was taking apart an old VCR and completely rewiring it so that it plays DVDs. He's miles ahead of his peers."

Rose shook her head, her eyes following Jonathan's distant shape as he ran around in the open field, "I don't want him to be socially isolated." She said. "He's just made friends in this level."

"He has no shortage of friends, let me tell you, Ms Tyler. He's a most sociable fellow, and he's liked by everybody," Mrs. Stanton said, a worried look still in place, "but I worry that he will be bored in class."

Rose sighed. Having a genius child was a difficult thing. Especially when she had to keep from the world that this child was half Gallifreyan. "I'll think about it," she conceded.

"Good. You should be very proud of Jonathan, Ms Tyler."

Rose smiled again. She was, more than anything. "Jonathan," she called out, "time to go. Now."

Jonathan came running again. It always amazed Rose how he could go zero to sixty in about three seconds, both physically and intellectually.

"Three more minutes, Mum?" he asked, looking up at her with adoring eyes. But Rose had years of experience with those eyes, first on the Doctor, and then on his son.

"No. Amber has a stack of files waiting for me that are _this high_." She indicated Jonathan's height.

"Two more minutes?"

"Car, Jonathan."

"One more minute?"

"Jonathan Gallifrey Tyler. Car. Now."

Reluctantly, Jonathan slung his pack sack over his shoulder and made his way to the car, climbing into the passenger seat without any further argument.

Mrs. Stanton chucked, "You certainly have a handle on him," she said, amused.

Rose couldn't help but laugh along, "I've had _lots_ of practice" she replied, before getting into the car herself.

Jonathan slouched in his seat, scowling, "You never let me have any fun, Mum," he sulked.

"I know," replied Rose cheerfully. Then, seeing his adorable scowl, she relented a little, "How bout we stop off on the way to work and get an ice cream? And then you can terrorize Amber. How does that sound to ya?"

"Yeah!" Jonathan said, sitting up enthusiastically.

"But only after you finish your homework,"

"Oh, Mum, you're no fun," he reiterated, even the prospect of ice cream not totally wiping out the inevitability of homework.


	3. What?

It was a shame, really. Whizzing around space and time with Martha Jones could be fun sometimes, the Doctor reasoned with himself. Martha was a great girl; intelligent, witty, good at solving problems and getting out of scrapes. She was a tag clingy, and emotionally needy, but everyone had their faults. All in all, she wasn't the worst companion he had ever had. In any other circumstance he would have had a great time with her. But unfortunately she had come right when he was vulnerable, and demanded what he could not give her. It was a shame, really.

He stared at her mobile, contemplating her last words to him. She had flipped the silver mobile, equipped with his special universal service upgrades, to him with a lofty "call me some time", and walked out the door. He was sorry about the whole thing, he really was, but his hearts belonged solely to someone else, and there was nothing he could do about that.

He sat down heavily in the Captain's chair, listening to the gentle hum of the TARDIS. He had no idea what he was going to do now. He usually let his companions choose their destination, and then trouble found them there. By himself, he brooded too much; generally, it was just too lonely on his big ship without someone there to distract him, even if it was only with stupid questions.

"I guess it's just you and me now, old girl," he said, patting the consol of the TARDIS. "So, where shall we go next?"

But the TARDIS did not answer, except to wash over him a wave of comfort, tinged with a edge of sadness.

"I know," the Doctor said softly, "I miss her too," and they both knew he was not speaking of the newly departed Martha.

A light began to flash on the consol, filling the room with a mauve glow. The Doctor jumped up, suddenly active.

"What?" he asked, his face contorted in a confused mask. His fingers flew over the buttons as he attempted to pinpoint the source of the mauve alert. But the readings didn't make any sense at all.

"What?!" he demanded again, banging the monitor. Surely there was some sort of processing error. It said that there was a gap in between universes that was bypassing the Void altogether. But that was impossible. He had closed the last gap himself, and there was no other possible way.

Then, another signal came through, very weak. It was impossible; absolutely impossible to be showing up here, or any other place in the galaxy. But there it was: the signal of another Time Lord.

"What?!?" The Doctor cried.


	4. BOOM

Rose was almost through the stack of file folders that Amber had left on her desk. It was mostly admin stuff, and after she was finished that, she could go home. For the first half hour of getting back from school, Jonathan had been sitting on the floor completing his homework. It didn't take him long, and soon enough he had wandered away down the many corridors of the building. This was a daily ritual, and Rose wasn't worried in the least. Jonathan knew the building at Canary Warf better than she did herself, and all the staff knew him. He was there every day after school after Rose picked him up, and he would stay with her until 6, when they would both go home to a hot dinner at the Tyler mansion.

Today, she was staying a half hour later, to let the whole house have a little more time for Jonathan's surprise birthday party. He didn't turn eight until tomorrow, but Jackie had insisted they have a little party for him before that, so that he didn't expect a thing. Rose had her present all ready this year- no scrabbling around at the last minute _this _year. A full tool set- he would be so pleased. He was just like the Doctor in that respect. He loved to tinker with everything, often borrowing tools from the garden shed that ended up lost or all over the house. His own set would put the gardener's mind much more at ease.

Rose reached for the last folder, hastily signing her name onto the bottom of a sheet before opening in the new one. It was a report on the Rift situation down in Cardiff. Even in this world, there was a rift between time and space in Cardiff than needed constant monitoring. Torchwood Three, under the leadership of the fearless Suzy Costello, made sure the Rift wasn't too unstable, and picked up alien junk that got washed through. They also had a bit of a weevil problem down there, but it was being dealt with. The report stated that the Rift had been more active of late, and that all sorts of problems were occurring with things being pulled through. Not large things, mind, just a more heavy concentration of alien tech being found by civilians.

Rose sighed, and rubbed her eyes. This was all she needed. It was quarter after six now, and almost time to start packing up. It took nearly ten minutes to mobilize both her things and Jonathan's, so that they were ready to go home.

There was a deafening crash from outside her office. Rose leapt up. Her instincts, formed from two years traveling with the Doctor and honed from 8 years fieldwork at Torchwood kicked in. she raced down the hall and labyrinth of cubicles, expecting the worst. It wasn't the first time an alien had tried to invade Torchwood headquarters, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

What she found when she skidded to a halt in front of an old unused storage room, was not an alien invasion. It wasn't even a foreign presence. It was her son, covered in wires and surrounded by melted plastic and broken glass.

"I'm sorry, Mum," he choked out, looking shell shocked and more than a little frightened, " I didn't mean to make it blow up, I just touched it and it just… I'm _sorry_, Mum!"

Others who stayed later from that floor were gathering around nervously, some with guns in their hands, investigating the incident. All around Jonathan were bits of the plastic shell of a computer monitor, and shredded wire. His cheek had a cut, probably from the glass of the screen. Dangling from his fingers was a screwdriver, but otherwise there was nothing to suggest the small boy had made this mess.

Rose rushed in, and fell to her knees, hugging Jonathan tightly.

"It's ok, darling. It's ok," she crooned softly, brushing bits of wire out of his hair.

"Are you all right?" came an anxious voice from behind Rose. Rose turned and stood up, keeping her hand around Jonathan's thin shoulders.

"We're fine, Amber. Everybody. I think that Jonathan has something to say to you, though. Don't you, Jonathan?"

Jonathan looked up with guilty eyes, "Sorry everyone. I didn't mean to scare you all by blowing up a computer. I promise I won't do it again." He gave his winning smile, which reminded Rose so forcefully of the Doctor.

There was nothing for it but to smile back at the boy. There were several chuckles, and several calls of "well, don't do it again!" while the small crowd of people went back to their work.

Rose turned to her son once again, "What did you do?" she asked in wonderment. There were scorch marks on the walls of the old storage room, and debris everywhere. Several old computers had been placed in it in order to get them out of the way until they could be safely wiped clean of any traces of classified information and thrown out. Jonathan had been allowed to tinker with them, as nobody saw the harm in an eight-year-old boy playing with old outdated computers.

Jonathan shook his head, "I don't know. I just came in here, and I picked up my screwdriver that I left in here yesterday, and I went to unscrew the one in the corner, and as soon as I touched it, it glowed a gold colour. And I remember that you always say if something weird happens to go get you right away, so I started to leave the room and it just … Boom!" he fluttered his hands expressively. Now that the shock had worn off, Rose could see that familiar gleam in his eye. He wanted to know why it had done that, and he would not stop until he found out.

"Come on, you little arsonist," Rose said, leading Jonathan out of the small room, "We've got to go home soon."

"And it's my birthday, right? You won't tell Gran I blew up a computer cuz it's my birthday?" he was all hopeful eagerness again.

Rose laughed, "We'll see," she replied vaguely.

Returning to her office, Rose rummaged in her handbag until she produced a plaster to put on Jonathan's cheek. One thing she had learned from 8 years of experience with Jonathan was there was always going to be some sort of scrape or bruise, so it was better to come prepared. She fully expected to be able to live in the wilderness for six months off the contents of that handbag.

Rose hastily scribbled a note to the janitor about that storage room, and left it on Amber's desk. Jonathan grabbed his pack sack, bouncing on the balls of his feet in his anticipation to get home.

"Amber?" Rose called out.

Amber appeared around the corner of Harry Yoshima's cubical. She and him had a bit of a thing for each other, and Rose was prepared to overlook it as long as it didn't interfere with work. "Yes?"

"I'm off. I finished all those file folders on my desk, left a note for the janitor to clean up that storage room, and can you please remind everyone I won't be in tomorrow? I'm taking Jonathan out for his birthday."

Amber nodded, and Rose shouldered her purse, locked her office door, took Jonathan by the hand, and left the building.


	5. Infinity and Beyond

The TARDIS was going crazy. Mauve lights were flashing on and off, and the central column of the control consol (the one the Doctor had affectionately dubbed the "flux capacitor" ) was pumping at double speed.

"Slow down, old girl," the Doctor said, punching buttons as fast as he could, "your circuits are getting old. They just detected the presence of another Time Lord, and you and I both know that I'm the only one left. All the Eventualities of Gallifrey and the Time Lords were destroyed in the Time War."

He had come to accept the truth that he was the only Time Lord living. Rose had helped him accept this. She had been instrumental in helping his previous regeneration come to terms with the fact that everyone he knew and loved was gone, and forever. All the Eventualities were destroyed- a measure the Council had set up so that if anything ever happened to Gallifray, some Time Lord could not go back into the past and rescue it- thereby avoiding the almost overwhelming temptation to do so otherwise. Rose had helped him through all that, letting his current regeneration have a more carefree and manically happy lifestyle. For a while, at least, that's how things had been. But then, she was pulled away from him, and he was alone once more. The Oncoming Storm, the last of the Time Lords, all alone.

In the Doctor's mind, the Face of Boe's last words floated back to him:

_You Are Not Alone_

But the Face had been referring to the Master, hadn't he? There was no way… no possible way that there could be another Time Lord… could there?

No possible way. The TARDIS was getting old. She was detecting phantom signals from another time; it was just not possible.

The Doctor attempted to push two buttons at once, while simultaneously pushing one on the far side of the round consol with his foot. The rubber soles of his converse trainers were perfect for this sort of pushing, one of the many reasons he had chosen them.

The Doctor looked again at his monitor. The Gallifreyan words were flashing past with enormous speed, but he was a fast reader, and he managed to get it all. There was defiantly a hole in the universe. And it was defiantly bypassing the Void, so that neither universe was open to attack from anything that might come through. This also meant that neither universe could shatter, as it would have if he had forced the TARDIS rip a hole in space/time. And the signal of the other Time Lord had definitely come from there. There was no denying it; there it was. It was all laid before him in a series of impossible events.

With a lurch, the Doctor realized this meant one thing: there was a perfectly safe hole into a universe with another Time Lord. This may (or may not) be Pete's Universe, and he might (or might not) be able to find his Rose on the other end. But one thing was for certain: he would definitely find another Time Lord.

Just the prospect that Rose could be on the other end of that hole made him dizzy. To see her again, to hold her, to finally finish his sentence and tell her how much he loved her, would be worth just about any risk.

"So, what do we do then, eh?" he asked his ship, "Do we pretend it's not there- after all, we both know it's absolutely impossible that it _is_ there- or do we follow it?"

The TARDIS hummed encouragingly, and jolted forward.

"Oh, yes, good choice. Follow that signal. To Infinity and Beyond!"

Literally, as the case might be.


	6. Family

"What in the world did you do to your face?" Jackie gasped, when she saw the scratch on Jonathan's cheek.

"Just fell down on the playground. Normal boy stuff. Don't worry, Mum," Rose said, winking to Jonathan, who winked back. It was easy to see that he was delighted to be in on a secret held back from his Gran.

Rose thought it best to keep the incident with the exploding computer from Jackie. After all, the older woman would only make a huge fuss over something that, really, was to be expected. Rose had been expecting something of this kind to happen for years. After all, he was his father's son, and though the Doctor was a genius at fixing things, he was also very good at breaking things that never had needed to be fixed in the first place.

Jonathan walked confidently past both mother and grandmother, into the house. He deposited his pack sack on the table in the front hall, and headed towards sitting room, from which light was streaming through the door and spilling into the hallway.

"It's all ready," Jackie whispered conspiratorially to her daughter, "Balloons, cake, presents, the works."

Rose nodded, hiding her grin. She shut the heavy front door behind her, depositing her briefcase on the bottom of the stairs and kicking off her stiletto heels. She pulled several pins out of her hair and shook it free of its bonds as a bun. Her hair really was getting too long to manage.

Jackie stood beside her, arms folded, waiting for the big moment.

"Happy Birthday Jonathan!!" came the shout from the other room as Jonathan walked in. He stood very still for a moment, ridged, as if the computer explosion incident had made him sensitive to loud noises. Then, he visibly relaxed, as he was engulfed in a hug from his Granddad, and unceremoniously carried into the room on Pete Tyler's shoulder in a fireman's haul.

Rose allowed her grin to take full form, as she made her way to the brightly lit sitting room of the Tyler mansion that had, for this occasion, been converted into a makeshift dining room as well. A large table stood to one side, places set. There had once been a time when she had served drinks as hired help in this place. Now it was her home, made more cheery and cozy with the addition of a small boy, who was at this moment running towards her.

"Thank you thank you thank you!! It's so great, and there's a _huge_ cake and everything!" he said, hugging her legs. Rose laughed, picking Jonathan up and spinning him around so that he giggled delightedly. She lowered him slightly so that she could kiss his uninjured cheek.

"What're you thanking me for? I have no idea what's going on," Rose peered at the large banner her mother had pinned up from the ceiling. "Oh, it's your _birthday_, is it? I didn't notice."

"Oh Mum, you're silly!" Jonathan exclaimed, putting his arms around her neck.

For a moment, Rose held him there, clinging on to him as if he was her lifeline. Then, she let him go, placing him on his feet once more. He gave her another 100-watt grin, and then raced back into the room, presumably to shake the small mountain of presents and try to guess their contents.

Rose entered the brightly lit room, noticing all the decorations. Jackie had been right- it was the works. Besides the large banner that hung from the ceiling, there were coloured streamers everywhere and balloons pinned to various bits of furniture. Pete's doing, Rose guessed. No sensible person would tape balloons to the arms of chairs and the side of the coffee table. But then, that just about defined her almost-sort-of Dad nowadays.

The huge polished oak table that had been placed at one side of the room was set for eight, and in the middle was a large cake, with bright green icing on it (Rose shuddered delicately at that). In one corner, Jonathan sat on a settee, package in hand, shaking it vigorously. Rose shook her head in amusement and wandered over to the other side of the room where Mickey was sitting on the arm of a wingback chair, his hand placed possessively on the shoulder of a pretty brunette.

"Rose!" Katherine said, heaving herself off the chair and giving her a hug. Rose returned the hug gingerly, careful not to squeeze the growing bump on Katherine's middle too hard. If she remembered correctly, that _hurt_. Pulling away, Rose placed her hand on the bump, and gave a start of surprise as she felt a small kick.

"Baby Mickey Number Two doing alright then?" Rose asked.

Katherine smiled, placing her hand on her belly, "Due in June. Mickey figures it'll be a girl this time," she glanced over to where three- year-old Luke was playing with some cars that had been provided from Jonathan's almost limitless (it seemed to Rose, who was always having to pick them up off the floor) collection of toys.

Mickey grinned, "What do you think, Rose, a girl this time? I was thinking we could call her Mariah."

Rose pondered this for a minute, before replying "Mariah… I like it"

She had been ecstatic when Mickey had come to her and defiantly told her that he was going to ask Katherine to marry him. Katherine was in the research and development branch of Torchwood; a quiet, steady girl who loved to read and was always fascinated by the new technology that was daily passing through her hands. Mickey had seemed shocked that Rose had taken it so well, almost as if he had expected her to protest his marrying someone else, but Rose couldn't be happier. It meant that he had moved on from her. Besides, Katherine was sweetness itself, and she loved the other woman like a sister. Rose had even been the maid of honour at their wedding. Luke, their first child, was three years old, was already showing Katherine's love of learning.

"And on the off chance that it's a boy," Katherine continued, shooting an arch glance at her husband, "I like Paul."

Rose nodded her agreement with the names, her eyes drifting over to where Jonathan was enthusiastically pumping his Granddad for information regarding a particularly large package wrapped in brightly coloured paper.

Pete was stodgily holding out, refusing to tell Jonathan anything. It was clear to everyone around that the man adored his grandson, and would do anything for him. Anything, that is, but tell him the contents of the largest box.

The doorbell rang, cutting through the general chatter of the room. Jackie was the first to react, hopping up from her place beside her grandson and heading for the door.

"I'll get it!" she called out, unnecessarily. Despite the fact that Jackie Tyler now had four servants under her command, including the one whose job it was to answer the door, Jackie had never really been able to shake the habit of doing everything for herself. A lifetime of the middle class, and twenty years of being a single parent had given Jackie a stubborn independence that was not easy to shake, even eight years later. After a few moments she returned from the hall.

"You'll never guess who just showed up," she said, casually leaning against the doorframe. Over the top of her head, a familiar face could be seen, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hello everyone. Did you miss me?"

AN: Awwww… I _love_ you guys for reviewing! I thought fanfic authors were making a huge hairy deal out of reviews for nothing, but it turns out they were right. They make you feel _fantastic_! So thanks to all of you who said positive things, and helped me out with some of my spellings (never again will I spell Gallifrey wrong :-S), and let me say this: they are much appreciated.


	7. Landing

The TARDIS landed with a crash, throwing the Doctor to the grated floor of the ship. He leaped up, not in the least hurt by this ascent. He was used to it, after all. It had happened countless times before on his many journeys. Sometimes he wished he passed the TARDIS driving test…. But then, where would be the fun in getting where you actually wanted to go? There was no adventure in that. And besides, because of that little quirk of his beloved ship, a whole new adventure was awaiting him, just outside those familiar blue doors.

He quickly checked the screen, registering that the Time Lord signal was still there, and it was stronger than before. Even if this was not Pete's World, there was always the hope that he was not, in fact, the last in existence.

A warm, rosy bubble of hope formed in his chest, right between his two hearts, and began to settle in. No matter the outcome of this trip, he would not return to the TARDIS alone.

Shrugging on his brown coat, he threw the doors open with a flourish. Outside, it was twilight, the sun having already sunk beneath the buildings that surrounded the current position of the inconspicuous blue box. Overhead, a large blimp lazily hovered in the chill air. The Doctor let out a loud whoop, and danced around for a few seconds. Passerbys hurried along, anxious not to be associated with this madman, who, for some reason, was extremely happy to be out of a Police Box.

"Excuse me," he said, coming up to the first person he saw, "but can you tell me where I am?"

The woman looked at him like he had lost his mind.

"You're in London, sir," she replied stiffly.

"Quite so. Can you tell me, did you have a rather large invasion of Cybermen here a few years ago?" the Doctor asked.

If it was possible, the woman stiffened even further. "How can you be ignorant of that? They killed nearly half the population of England nine years ago."

"Oh, right," said the Doctor, completely ignorant of his rudeness "That's brilliant!" he wandered off from her, still sporting an ear-splitting grin.

The idea took him suddenly: he had no idea where Tyler Mansion was. He had gotten there once before, but after all the events of the previous year, he had completely forgotten where it was. But that was easily solved by a genius like him. He sprinted to the nearest phone booth and practically ripped the pages of the phone book out in his eagerness to get to the T's.

"Tyaros, Tydin, Tyfrina, ahah! Tyler. 1462 Market Street! Brilliant!" Fishing his sonic screwdriver out of one of his pockets, (thanking his lucky stars that like his TARDIS, his pockets were dimensionally transcendental, and could fit just about anything he chose to put into them) he scanned the page, instructing the slim, pen-like device to remember the address for him.

"Taxi!" he called out.

It was dark by the time the Cab rolled out in front of the gates of Tyler Mansion. After digging into his pockets once again, he came up with the correct change and paid the cabbie. Then he was left alone in front of the imposing gates.

They were not locked, thankfully. To the side of the rather imposing front door were several cars; a daunting Mercedes Benz, a compact silver Honda , and a little red Thunderbird. The Doctor made his way to the door, and paused, his fingers hovering over the doorbell.

This was the moment of truth. This was the moment he had seen so many times repeated in his dreams, but had never dared to hope wouldactually happen. He should be breaking the door down and sweeping Rose off her feet. Yet he hesitated. Old insecurities resurfaced as he stared at the handsome door of the Tyler Mansion. What if Rose was happy here? What if, in coming here, he was disturbing some happy life that she had carved out for herself in his absence. What if she didn't want to come back with him? What if she were married? What if she were married to Mickey? The Doctor's head spun as different scenarios whirred around, all ending with Rose not wanting him any more.

His breath caught in his throat at the though, and his hearts pounded loudly. They were so loud that he wondered if those within the house could hear the thunderous noise. He realized with a jolt that he had been holding his breath, and he let it out now with a hiss. All this running around, this frantic energy dragging Martha from adventure to adventure, it had all lead to this moment, standing in front of an ordinary door.

But this was ridiculous. Was he a Time Lord, or was he a mouse? Mind you, the mice of Vorak 6 were some of the most vicious creatures he had ever come across. Nothing like Earth mice, of course, didn't look a thing like them. They had nearly tried to kill the Doctor the last time he was there….but that was besides the point. He was a grown Time Lord, and he would start acting like one. He was the Oncoming Storm, the one Daleks had nightmares about, and nothing was going to stop him, especially not his own fear.

With absolute determination, he pressed firmly down the button, ringing the bell. Then, he waited.


	8. Party

Mickey was the first one to react.

"Jake!" he cried, running up and embracing the first friend he had made in this universe. The two friends slapped each other on the back heartily before releasing one another.

"Rosie! You look good!" Jake said, giving Rose a peck on the cheek. Rose grimaced slightly at the nickname. It was Jake's firm opinion that everyone needed a nickname, and the one he had chosen for her was 'Rosie', never mind that she had hating being called that ever since she was a little girl.

"What did you bring me from Russia, Uncle Jake?" Jonathan demanded, reaching for the package in Jake's hand. Jake held it over his head, out of Jonathan's reach.

"Not till later, kiddo. Your Gran is telling me that you get to open them after supper. But just you wait till I tell you all about my new adventures!"

Jake had been in Russia for the last six months, helping to get rid of the last Cybermen strongholds that were hiding out in the Siberian wilderness. Even after all this time, there were still hidden caches of conversion equipment and inert shells waiting to be filled with 'upgraded' humans. There was always a danger that he wouldn't come back after one of these excursions, so when he returned alive and well it was a huge relief to everyone. Over the years, Jake had become part of the family, and so much a part of Jonathan's life that he had earned the title "Uncle".

Jake maneuvered his way across the room, and plopped his present down with the others.

"That's a lot of presents for an eight year old!" he exclaimed.

Jonathan beamed, "I'm going to open this one first," he said, pointing to a square present that Rose knew contained a yellow tool box.

"Not before supper you're not," commented Jackie, who had overheard, "How bout we all eat now?" she asked, raising her voice so that the entire room heard her.

Pete entered the room from the opposite door, his arms laden with pizza boxes.

It was obvious just from the food that this was a meal catering to a child. Pizza and chips, fizzy drinks and crisps were not an adult's idea of a well- balanced meal. For dessert, there was the green cake, and ice cream of several flavours.

Jonathan was in his element as the centre of attention. Rose, sitting across the table from him, paid more attention to him than to her food, enjoying his excitement. He had grown up so much from the tiny baby he had once been, born 3 months too early, but somehow, inexplicably, perfectly healthy. He was now so tall, and so very much like his father. His hair was standing on end from so many people ruffling it affectionately, and his eyes sparkled.

It made Rose's heart constrict with both a huge soaring pride, and with an empty, aching sadness. The Doctor was missing this.

Jonathan took his last huge bite of cake with a flourish, and looked around expectantly. Everyone else was still finishing theirs.

"Can I open a present, Mum, can I?" he asked, turning to Rose.

"Wait till everyone else is done," she replied.

"Can I just_ look_ at Uncle Jake's?" he begged, clearly not willing to sit quietly while the others devoured the last of the cake.

Rose had barely given her consent to this than he was up from the table, and over to the presents, carefully scrutinizing Jake's contribution to the large pile.

As soon as he was given leave, Jonathan tore into his presents with gusto. Paper flew as he cast it aside, revealing a box of carefully carved soldiers: Jake's gift from Russia. From Mickey and Katherine he received a handsome set of nature books; from his grandparents a red bicycle and some new clothes (he didn't look too impressed with these); and, of course, Rose's tool box. Various other small gifts were unwrapped and exclaimed over, but Jonathan seemed taken by the tool box, as Rose knew he would be. He happily set about taking everything out of the neatly packed yellow metal box, examining it, and putting it carefully back in its place.

"I think it's time for little ones to go to bed," Katherine said, stroking Luke's hair as he dozed in her lap, "It's almost dark now, and we should go home."

Mickey nodded, picked his son up from his mother's lap, and carefully carried him to the door.

There was the usual flurry of goodbyes as they left. Jake thanked Jackie for inviting him, pulled Jonathan's ear, and hugged Rose lightly.

"Sure you won't stay longer?" Rose asked him.

"I'll come by tomorrow," he promised, "I want to catch up with Mickey tonight. Maybe go to a pub."

Rose nodded, understanding his feelings. When you had just come back from a dangerous mission, you wanted to spend as much time with your friends as possible.

Mickey smiled at Rose as he made his way to the door.

"Don't forget to say goodbye, when the time comes," he said aside to her.

Mickey always said this, every time he left Rose's company. In all the years since Bad Wolf Bay, Mickey had never given up maintaining that the Doctor would come back for Rose, even when Rose herself had stopped believing. He said this to her every time, reminding her that she was not to take off again with him in that blue box without first coming to say goodbye. Rose smiled slightly, appreciating the hope that was ever-present in that statement of farewell.

"I won't," she replied in the customary response.

With the Smith family and Jake gone, Rose retreated back to the sitting room, where a very happy Jonathan sat in the midst of many scraps of coloured wrapping paper, his new things spread around him. He was still examining the contents of the tool box. Rose sat down on the sofa that he was leaning against, her fingers gently stroking his hair.

"Are ya happy?" she asked.

Jonathan tilted his head up so that he could see her, "This is great, Mum," he said, "I really like the tools. Now I can make all sorts of things!"

"But please don't blow any of them up, yeah?" Rose reminded him, pulling a lock of his hair for emphasis.

"I'll try not to. But I can't promise anything after today," Jonathan replied, flashing her a cheeky smile.

"You better not! Your Gran would go spare," Rose exclaimed.

Jonathan put down the monkey wrench he was holding and turned slightly, so that he could rest his head in Rose's lap, his eyes pensive.

"Mum, do you think Dad would like me?"

"What?" gasped Rose, surprised and shocked. Jonathan almost never talked about his absent father, except to request a particular bedtime story.

"Well, this boy at school, Max, said that Dad must not have liked me cos he left and never came back."

"Jonathan," Rose said softly, "I know- I _know_- that your Dad would love you. If there were any way for him to get back to us, he would. He would be so proud of you, just like I am."

"Really?" Jonathan asked, climbing up on the sofa to sit beside her. Then, "I wish he would come back."

Rose choked, tears threatening to spill down her face, "So do I, Love. I wish he could come back too." She held Jonathan to her, tightly.

"He was such a great man, your father. He was a genius. He saved the world so many times, and he would just blow it off like it was nothing. He could make me laugh when nothing else could,"

"Did you love him?" Jonathan asked.

"Very, very much. I thought I loved him more than anything in the whole universe, but then you came along."

Jonathan snuggled into her more, and Rose kissed the top of his absurdly messy hair.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too, Mummy," he whispered back.

There was the bright flash of a camera, startling both occupants of the sofa.

"Don't you two look sweet?" Jackie commented, holding up the camera to admire the tender moment she had caught on film.

"Awww, Gran, you know I hate pictures!" Jonathan complained, "they always make me look dumb!"

Rose laughed at his tone, secretly a little sad that her mother a broken such a moment between her and her son. Those moments were getting more and more rare as he became a young man, for whom outward signs of affection for one's mother was seen as 'uncool'.

The doorbell rang again. Jackie moved to answer it, but Rose got up instead.

"It's probably Katherine forgetting something again. She always leaves something behind. I'll get it."

Jackie nodded, taking Rose's place on the sofa.

As Rose headed towards the door, she heard her Mum exclaim, "Now look at all those new tools of your very own! I hope you don't try to take anything apart again. Remember how upset Granddad was when you took apart his remote control?"

Rose left the room with a smile on her face. It was good to be with family, and the party had been just that. She made her way to the large paneled front door, and pulled it open with a deft flick of her wrist.

All the breath left her body, and she stifled a choked cry. There, standing in front of her, silhouetted by the porch lights, as real as the doorknob which her hand was still curled around, stood the one person she had seen in her dreams so many times, but had given up all hope of ever seeing in while awake. And he was grinning at her from ear to ear.

AN: HAH! I fooled you! You thought it was the Doctor at the beginning, didn't you? Sorry, but it was just too tempting. Thanks to everyone who has been so encouraging, and a special thanks to Grey Lady of Gallifrey for offering to beta this little piece of nonsense. Jelly Babies for reviewers!


	9. Unexpected Visitor

Rose opened and closed her mouth several times, but no sound came out. This must be a dream. There was no other explanation for the person who now stood before her. She must have fallen asleep next to Jonathan on the sofa and now she was dreaming that he had come back to her.

"Hullo, Rose," the Doctor said softly, looking down at her with his warm, brown eyes.

Rose reached out her hand, and gently touched his cheek, reassuring herself that he was solid, and would not vanish suddenly if she looked away.

"You're real," she whispered, her voice filled with wonder.

The Doctor's eyes fluttered closed for a moment at her soft touch.

"I'm really here," he said, his voice cracking just a little. He seemed almost as surprised at this as she was.

Then, in an instant, Rose was in his arms and he was holding her tightly. She didn't know which one of them moved first, all she knew was that the Doctor was hugging her fiercely, and it felt like coming home.

"You came back," Rose choked, her word muffled by the folds of the Doctor's coat. "You said it was impossible."

"Rose Tyler, I eat impossible for breakfast!" he boasted, and though Rose could not see it, she could hear his wide grin in the tone of his voice. Even after all this time, he was still the same as she remembered.

He pulled away from her slightly, still keeping her in the circle of his arms.

"I hope this is the first of many times I get to say this: Rose Tyler, I love you!" The Doctor declared, his grin nearly wider than his face.

"Quite right too," Rose said, mirroring his words from that long-ago day on a windy beach in Norway. A tear slid down her cheek, even as a smile lit up her face.

The Doctor gently wiped it away with his thumb, his fingers sliding through the hair that rested on her shoulder. Then, he leaned forward and kissed her.

It was over almost before it had begun, and Rose was so surprised that she had no time to react. His lips brushed hers and then they were gone, leaving only the ghost of their touch.

His eyes met hers, searching. They seemed to be asking her if he had gone too far, if he had crossed some sort of line.

Rose responded in the only way possible after a kiss so full of promise. She grabbed the lapels of the Doctor's brown trench coat and pulled him down to her. She poured eight years of passion, of loneliness, of grief, of love into this kiss. After a moment's hesitation, she felt him do the same.

It was everything she had imagined kissing the Doctor would be, and more. His lips were soft and gentle as they moved against hers.

Lack of breath drove them apart. Rose rested her head on his chest, listening to the faint pounding of his hearts. When the Doctor laughed, she felt it rumble through his chest. He held her tightly, lifting her up so that her feet left the floor. They were both laughing now, holding each other like they would never let go.

The Doctor placed Rose back on the ground, stepping back to get a better look at the girl he thought he would never see again. She flashed him her adorable grin, with her tongue poking out from between her teeth, and took his hand.

It seemed like such a natural movement, even after all this time. Her fingers fit into his perfectly, as Martha's never had. Their warmth reminded him that he was really with his Rose once more, and hee swore to himself that he would never let her out of his sight again.

Rose led him into the front hall of the house, closing the door behind her. She seemed about to say something, when a familiar voice floated down the hall.

"Sweetheart, what's taking you so long? We're waiting, but you've been gone ages. Who was it at the door?"

A look of terror flitted across the Doctor's face. Jackie was sure to be angry at him. More than angry - Jackie Angry.

"You could hide?" Rose suggested, smirking. The Doctor steeled himself, and shook his head, tightening his grip on Rose's hand.

Jackie rounded the corner, and stopped dead in her tracks. For a moment, she registered nothing but shock. Then, an angry cloud passed over her features. She stalked over to where the Doctor stood, half hiding behind Rose. There were some things that no man should have to face, and a furious Jackie Tyler was one of those things.

Jackie came right up to him and slapped him as hard as she could, the sound of her hand hitting his face echoed through the corridor. The Doctor recoiled. That _hurt_. He could feel the angry red hand print forming on his cheek.

"That's for breaking my daughter's heart!" Jackie said shrilly.

Then, she did the very last thing that the Doctor would have expected. She grabbed him by the shoulders, and kissed him, hard.

The Doctor froze, too shocked to speak or even move.

"An' that's for coming back again," Jackie finished, pulling the Doctor into a quick hug. It took a moment to react, but after a few seconds he gave her an awkward pat on her back before she released him.

Behind him, Rose tried- and failed- to contain her giggles.

"I knew you would come back. I just knew it." Jackie insisted, and then her demeanor changed slightly, and a shadow of her former anger returned.

"What took you so long?" she demanded, poking him in the chest.

"The impossible takes a little while, Jackie Tyler," The Doctor said severely, "And the universe needed saving a few times in between."

"Don't be too hard on him, Mum," Rose said, coming up behind the Doctor and slipping her hand into his again, "He came back, didn't he?"

Pete Tyler came down the main stairs, calling to his wife as he went, "Jacks, is everything alright? I thought I heard someone yelling."

"Your crazy wife slapped me- again!" the Doctor said indignantly, his free hand rising to rub his smarting cheek.

Pete looked from one face to another, and then he laughed.

"Come back at last, have you? It's good to see you again."

"Good to see you too, Pete." The Doctor shook Pete's offered hand, before slipping his arm around Rose's shoulder, and pulling her to him.

"Here we all are again! What a year it's been, but we're all together again!" he proclaimed.

"A year?" Jackie asked, raising her eyebrows, "It's been eight, Doctor,"

The Doctor turned to her. "No, it's only been one year. Felt like forever, but it was only one."

Rose smiled, a little sadly, "It's been eight years for us since that day on Bad Wolf Bay, Doctor."

He turned to face her, a look passing over his eyes that made him seem both sad, and very, very old.

"I'm so sorry," he said quietly, "I would have… I mean…. If I had known,"

Then, he paused for a moment, before continuing "Although, that lady on the street did shout something like that to me. I wasn't really listening, though."

"That sums you up pretty well I think," said Rose, smiling.

The two leaned forward, and their lips brushed together.

Pete cleared his throat loudly, and the two drew apart, guiltily.

"You came back. That's what matters," Jackie said. Then she looked at her watch. "Goodness sake! It's 10:30 already. Jonathan should have been in bed an hour ago! Jonathan!" she called.

A small boy made his way down the corridor and towards the group of people in the entrance.

"Hey, Mum? Where did everybody go?" he asked, looking curiously at the Doctor.

"Hello there!" the Doctor said, grinning manically, "You must be the new addition to the Tyler family!" Rose had told him that Jackie was going to have a baby, and this must be him, eight years later.

"Jonathan, this is my…" Rose hesitated, "My… friend. He's called the Doctor"

"Doctor who?" Jonathan asked.

"Just The Doctor," said the Doctor, smiling at this familiar exchange.

"Well, that's daft. Why would anyone just be called The Doctor?" Jonathan asked, eyeing the other man skeptically.

"Jonathan! That's not very polite!" Rose chided.

The Doctor chuckled. "That's alright," he said, "It_ is_ a bit of a daft name isn't it? But that's what it is."

"I think it's time for bed, young man," Jackie cut in.

"Can I have a story?" Jonathan asked, turning to Jackie.

"I'll go," Rose volunteered, good naturedly. She shooed Jonathan up the stairs, and the Doctor trailed after her.

"Bit domestic for ya, isn't it?" she asked him.

The Doctor shrugged, but held on to her hand, "I told you," he said quietly, "I'm not letting you out of my sight again."

He followed Rose up the stairs, past a landing, then more stairs, and finally past several doors before getting to their destination.

Jonathan was obviously a much loved child. His spacious room was filled with toys, and decorated with rocket ships and planets painted onto the wall. On the ceiling were stuck glow-in-the dark stars, which (much to the Doctor's surprise) were laid out in recognizable constellations.

Rose handed Jonathan his pajamas, and instructed him to change in the bathroom across the hall, and to brush his teeth while he was there.

"I'm going to change too, yeah?" Rose said. The Doctor looked at her, taking in her outfit for the first time. Black trousers and a soft pink button down dress shirt seemed more formal that he was used to seeing her. But then, he thought sardonically, it had been a long time for her. She had probably changed a lot, and not just her clothes. He raised his eyebrow in response.

Rose giggled, "Don't look at me like that," she said, "Gotta dress nice now. I'm the deputy head of a national organization."

"I wasn't complaining," the Doctor said, allowing his eyes to skim down her figure. One thing had not changed: Rose was still beautiful. She blushed under his scrutiny.

"Just don't get into any trouble," she said, leaning up to kiss his nose. She went to pull away, but the Doctor wouldn't let her. He kissed her fully and completely. After all this time of waiting, and hoping, and willing himself not to, it felt so wonderful to allow himself to kiss her.

"Love you," he said softly.

"Mmmmm… love you too," she said against his lips. Then, she pulled away and walked out the door, throwing a wink over her shoulder.

The Doctor looked around the room with interest. A small black radio sitting proudly on a shelf with wires tangled around it caught his interest. He slipped on his black rimmed glasses and studied it more closely. After further examination, he pulled out his trusty sonic screwdriver and buzzed the box with it.

"Nice. Very nice. A little crudely put together, but still nice," he murmured to himself.

"I made that," said a small voice behind him. The Doctor turned around, taking off his glasses, to see Jonathan standing behind him. The boy was dressed in green pajamas with dinosaurs on them.

"Did you?" the Doctor said, his interest piqued.

"Yeah, for a school project. It's a…"

"Radio, yes," the Doctor interrupted, "but you've magnified the range. You can hear stations from all over the world. I wouldn't be surprised if you can pick up radio chatter from space with this thing. That's nice. Very nice."

Jonathan smiled at the praise. "Mum likes to come in here and listen to the CBC from Canada," he said, "she says it reminds her that there are other things besides just England to worry about. She says it keeps her humble,"

"Jackie Tyler wanting to keep humble? That'll be the day," the Doctor scoffed, amused.

Jonathan gave him an odd look. "My Mum's name isn't Jackie," he said.

Before the Doctor could respond to this strange comment, Rose walked in. She was wearing flannel pajama bottoms and a blue tank top, her blond hair tumbling over her shoulders and down her back. She looked so beautiful that all though of Jonathan's words were driven from the Doctor's mind.

She pointed at the bed that sat in the corner of the room. It was covered in a bright red comforter with yellow racecars scattered over its surface.

"Why are you not in bed yet?" she asked Jonathan.

Jonathan jumped under the covers, and settled himself against the pillows. Rose sat on the edge of the bed, smoothing down the quilt. From the doorway, the Doctor watched this very domestic scene. It made his hearts constrict and his throat tighten to think that maybe, someday, if he was one lucky sod, that would be his and Rose's child that she was tucking in with such love.

He shook his head at the thought. Rose was right- he _had_ gone domestic. When did the Lord of Time get all soft?

'_When you met Rose Tyler, that's when'_ came the answer. He shook his head again, but this time with a smile. Maybe being domestic wasn't so bad after all.

Assured that Rose was safe in Jonathan's room, and that nothing was going to take her away from him, he began to walk down the hall. No harm in exploring a little bit.

"Teeth brushed? Hair combed? Face washed?" for each of Rose's questions, Jonathan nodded his head.

"Good. Which story shall I tell tonight?" Rose asked.

Jonathan thought for a moment before responding, "Tell me one about your adventures when you were traveling with Dad."

Rose smiled. Ever night she asked Jonathan what kind of story he would like to hear, and every night he would pause before requesting a story about her travels with the Doctor. It was their little ritual.

"Did I tell you the one about the time we defeated the whole Slitheen family while they were in Downing Street?"

Jonathan nodded.

"Oh. Well, what about the time we met a real life werewolf in Scotland?"

Jonathan nodded again, beginning to giggle.

"Did I?" Rose asked. Maybe she was running out of stories. Then, one came to her that she was sure she had never told.

"Well, what about the time we met the monopods?"

Jonathan shook his head enthusiastically, and wriggled further down into his blankets.

"Well," Rose began, "we got there by mistake. The TARDIS was supposed to take us to Barcelona –the planet you know, not the city- but we always seemed to end up in a different place than were we wanted to go. I think because your Dad was always tinkering with her, and trying to fix things that weren't broken. Kinda like you, actually.

"Anyways, you Dad had promised me that we could go to Barcelona for a while, so now I was finally taking him up on it. When we realized we weren't in Barcelona, we decided to go out anyways, and see what this new planet was like. The people on this planet were orange, and they had only one foot. Not like you see people here who have a leg missing. No, they had one foot that grew in the middle, and they got around by hopping. And when they hopped, they made a loud thump on the ground.

"The monopods we met were very surprised to see us, and they treated us like we were really special. They brought us to their governor's palace, and it turned out that they thought we were the king and queen, come to visit. You see, on this planet, only royalty and nobles had two legs, and all the ordinary people only had one. So they treated us really nicely, only your Dad knew that it was just be a matter of time before they found out we weren't really the king and queen. We tried to get away, but they were holding a feast for us, and we were being watched the whole time.

"Half way through the feast- which was very nice, by the way- a monopod came in and announced that the _real_ king and queen were here. Which meant that your Dad and I had to start running. We had to get back to the TARDIS so we could fly off safely.

"Now, the quickest way to the TARDIS was across this lake, and there was a bridge, but it wasn't like a normal bridge. It was more like stepping stones. We had to hop from one to another to get across. The monopods were chasing us because they thought we had been impersonated their royalty, and they were going to hang us for treason if they caught us, so we had to hop fast. But for only having on foot, they sure could move! And it sounded so loud, all those monopods chasing us. It sounded like thunder from all the thumping as they ran. So there we were, your Dad and I, hopping for our lives, trying to get back to the TARDIS. Can you imagine how funny we looked hop, hop, hopping for our lives?

"I was ahead, and I kept nearly tripping (I'm not very good at hopping, you know) and the monopods were slowly catching up. One of them almost grabbed your Dad's leather jacket. Now, he would have been _really_ sorry if that was gone, so it was a good thing he was a fast runner, cos we just made it into the TARDIS in time.

"Then, we flew off to the real Barcelona. Your Dad owed me some relaxation after that!" Rose concluded, smiling at the memory.

Jonathan's eyelids were drooping, and he yawned sleepily.

Rose placed a kiss on his forehead.

"Love you, Mum," he murmured, already half asleep.

"Love you too, Jonathan. Happy Birthday." She brushed a few stray strands of hair from his forehead, tucked the covers up to his chin, and turned off the lights in his room.

She walked out into the hall, nearly colliding with the Doctor, who was standing directly outside. Telling Jonathan his story, she had been sitting with her back to the door, and she had no idea how long he had been standing there, listening.

She looked up into his face, and saw that it was strangely clouded.

"Rose," he said, his voice low and worried, "we need to talk."

AN: finally, a new chapter written! Would you believe it was Jackie who gave me the most trouble and held me up all this time? Sorry about the Doctor not being there in the last chapter. I was mean of me I know, but just to make up for it, he and Rose get not one, but _four_ kisses! Extra points for anyone who can spot the Narnia reference :-)


	10. Tea and Memories

Rose held his eyes for a moment, then looked away.

"I know where we won't be disturbed," she said, keeping her voice lowered. She took his hand tentatively, and lead him down the stairs. The main floor of the house, the Doctor discovered, was a maze of rooms and corridors, reminding him of the inside of the TARDIS (only presumably these did not move around to suit his needs). Rose navigated them with ease, eventually leading him into the kitchen.

"Thought you might fancy a cuppa first," she said.

"Tea would be brilliant," the Doctor said. In spite of the fact that his mind was buzzing with questions, he could still appreciate Rose's thoughtfulness. A good cup of tea was just what was needed for a clear head.

They waited in silence for the water to boil, Rose sitting on a chair and the Doctor perched on the edge of the kitchen table. The sharp whistle of the kettle cut through the heavy silence, startling both. Rose leapt up to turn the kettle off and proceeded to make the tea. Even though it had been many years for her since she had made tea for him, she still remembered how he took it- strong, teaspoon of sugar, dash of milk. She handed him his cup and proceeded to fix her own.

The Doctor breathed in the steam that rose from the mug in his hands, savouring the sharp smell. It reminded him of the Tyler flat on the Powell Estate. Jackie still stocked the same type of tea, apparently.

Once finished, Rose tidied up, then tilted her head towards the door. The Doctor followed, and they ended up in a cozy room with large windows, the shades drawn against the night. The walls were lined with shelves packed with movies and a large screen TV dominated one wall. Couches and squashy chairs were scattered around.

Rose sat on one of the couches and drew her feet up under her. The Doctor sat beside her. Once again, silence reigned.

Rose was the first to speak.

"How much did you hear?" she asked.

"I heard him call you 'mum'," the Doctor said, looking in the depths of his mug, "and I heard you tell one of our adventures. And refer to me as 'dad'."

Rose sighed. She put her cup down, and turned to face him, her expression a mix of worry and fear.

"You're Jonathan's dad," she said. Her statement left no room for disagreement. There was no argument in her tone.

The Doctor shook his head emphatically, "Rose, we both know I can't be."

"You are," she said again, in the same tone as before.

"Rose, it's impossible."

"I thought you said you ate impossible for breakfast," she teased gently.

The Doctor frowned. This was not the time for joking. He was getting to the bottom of this matter and not being distracted no matter what.

"Not this kind of impossible. This is biologically impossible. Absolutely, positively, no room for interpretation impossible."

Rose looked up at him with pleading eyes, "You've got to believe me, there's been no one else the whole time I've been here. I've not had a single boyfriend. Not even a one night stand,"

"But neither did we," the Doctor reminded her.

"I know, but it has to be you."

"We never… not even… no matter how much I…. I mean, I don't remember anything like that…. And I would remember _that_," the Doctor sputtered. She seemed so sure. How could she be so absolutely certain?

"I know, I know." Rose said again, "but I went to the clinic with what I thought was a bit of a flu, and he told me I was having twins."

"Twins?" the Doctor asked, panic rising. Where was the other twin? Why was there not another Tyler running around? What had happened to his other child?

A horrible thought occurred to him. What if Jonathan's twin had died? Had Rose had to deal with the death of a child by herself? Intense sadness filled him at the anguish she must have suffered. He looked down at her, full of grief. He had found and lost a child all in one moment.

Rose must have guessed what he was thinking, because she smiled gently.

"It wasn't twins," she said, "it was just Jonathan. Two heartbeats. That's how I knew you were his father."

"Oh," Of course. If Jonathan was his child, it would make sense that some parts of his biology were Gallifreyan. The Doctor felt the panic subside, but the grief remained. How had this happened? As much as he was in love with Rose, he would never have taken advantage of her like that.

"Rose, we never…"

"I've had a lot of time to think about this," Rose interrupted him, "and there is only a limited space of time where it could have happened. Only about a month before the Battle of Canary Warf."

The Doctor's brain kicked into high gear, reviewing all the places they had been within a month of Canary Warf. There had been that planet that was totally deserted beaches; Earth, 1412 (almost got burned at the stake as witches, the Doctor remembered with a shudder); the one where they ran from the blob alien who was intent on making Rose his next wife; oh, and right before heading back to visit Jackie, Rose had done some shopping on a planet with two suns. The Doctor dimly remembered her wandering through a foreign market while he trailed behind. The memory was strangely blurry, and only vague images floated to the surface of his mind.

Rose was playing with a strand of her hair, looking on the verge of tears.

The Doctor moved closer, and wrapped his arms around her, hating himself. What had he done to her?

"I'm being stupid," she said, leaning against him and putting her head on his shoulder, "It's just that for so long I felt like Darth Vader's mum. You know, Shmei Skywalker? No father, just midichlorians. Don't know what George Lucas was thinking with that one…" she trailed off.

A smile escaped onto the Doctor's lips. "I do. But that's a really long story."

Rose smiled, even as a stray tear trailed down her cheek. She continued as if he had not spoken.

"But you are Jonathan's dad, no matter how impossible that is. And that made me feel better. It made me feel like I still had a piece of you. Other than a key on a ribbon and a mobile full of numbers that don't work any more."

She cried quietly for a moment, and then pulled back, wiping tears off her cheeks.

"Being silly," she muttered again.

The Doctor shook his head. "You're not being silly," he said gently.

"Rose, right before we visited your mum and found out about the Ghost Shifts, what were we doing?"

Rose's brow creased as she thought back.

"I…don't remember. I remember what he did before that, and I remember what we did after, but that's sort of… fuzzy. I _think_ I did some shopping. It had two suns, right? But I don't remember much of what else we did,"

The Doctor nodded. "Neither do I," he said. The cogs in his brain began to turn. They both couldn't remember what they did on that planet, and it was within the timeframe Rose had worked out for Jonathan's birth. here had to be some way to remember. Then, in a flash, it came to him. _Of course. _ Why had he not thought of that before?

"Rose, if you want, I could look inside your mind." He said. He didn't want to invade her privacy, but this was the best way to find something that neither of them could remember.

Rose looked at him, surprised. She had obviously forgotten that he could do that.

"Like a Vulcan mind meld?" she asked.

The Doctor smiled at her second reference to Earth Science Fiction in as many minutes.

"Yes, like a Vulcan mind meld. I can look inside your mind and see what is keeping you from remembering. We can look at the memory. But I'll only do it if you give me permission."

She nodded eagerly, "Do it!"

The Doctor held back, reluctant even when she had given her consent. It was one thing to read Rienette's mind; it was another to read Rose's. This was much more intimate, much more intrusive.

As if anticipating what he was going to say, Rose took his hands, and smiled.

"It's ok, Doctor. I want to find out."

"If there's anything you don't want me to see, just imagine a door closing, and I will know not to go there," the Doctor warned.

Rose smiled warmly. "I have no secrets from you, Doctor." She said.

The Doctor felt a rush of warmth at her words. Rose really was the most amazing woman he had ever met.

Both shifted into comfortable positions, and the Doctor placed his hands on either side of Rose's head. He closed his eyes and concentrated on that memory.

It was almost like they fell into the memory. The Doctor had done this many times before, but to Rose it was a new experience. She looked around her, eyes wide.

"We're in my memory, yeah?" she asked.

The Doctor nodded, "We can see everything that you could see at the time. Which means we've got to follow ourselves around."

Rose waived her hand in front of the face of a humanoid with hair the colour of a ripe tomato. He paid absolutely no attention to her, but instead walked past, his eyes looking straight ahead.

"Can't they see us at all then?" she asked.

"This is a memory. They can't see or hear us or interact with us in any way. Oh look, there we are," the Doctor pointed across the bustling market place to where a younger Rose stood, examining something at a stall. A younger Doctor, dressed in a brown pinstriped suit, leaned against the table, staring into the empty space in front of him. The Doctor couldn't help but smile at his expression of utter boredom.

"Having fun were you?" Rose teased, nodding towards his younger self.

"It's not my fault you shop endlessly," he retorted.

"You're wore the brown pinstripe then," Rose said, almost to herself.

The Doctor looked at her, puzzled. "What?" he asked.

"You used to wear that brown pinstriped suit all the time before. You're wearing a blue suit now. I'd just noticed. Why did you change it? You always wore the same one."

The Doctor shrugged. He knew the real reason he had changed his signature clothing: it reminded him of Rose. But he didn't tell her that. Instead, he replied, "I changed a lot of things after… after you left."

Rose seemed to understand, because she squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"Finished yet?" the Brown Doctor asked, turning to his Rose

The younger Rose, who wore a Purple top, nodded absently, picking up another curious nick nack from the shelf.

"I told you that you could wait in the TARDIS if you're bored." She replied.

"I'm not letting you go anywhere on your own. You wander," the Brown Doctor said, his long fingers beginning to tap on the table impatiently.

"Then you'll just have to wait for me," Purple Rose put down the object she was examining, and walked to the next table. The Brown Doctor followed.

"_And_ you get into trouble," the Brown Doctor continued, as if Purple Rose has not spoken at all.

Several of the stalls were closing up, and the planet's two suns were beginning to set. The sunset would be spectacular.

The locals milling around the market began to slowly drift towards one end, most chattering happily to each other. The market emptied, and more stalls closed, their proprietors following the crowd eagerly.

The Brown Doctor tugged on his Rose's arm.

"Let's go over there and see what that's all about," he said. He looked at her with

such a lost puppy expression that the older Rose couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Always was a sucker for that expression," she murmured to the Doctor, who smiled and took her hand.

"I've found this out," he said into her ear, "and manipulated it to the fullest."

"Cheeky," Rose said, hitting his arm lightly.

It was getting darker by the minute, and the two suns were going down in a blaze of glory. The Doctor had seen many such sunsets on many different planets, but they never ceased to delight him. Such beauty was timeless, even for the Lord of Time. A huge, pale moon rose in the sky overhead, tinged with the colours of the setting suns.

"Where in the world is everyone going?" Rose asked from beside him, glancing around at their surroundings.

The Doctor smiled at her very Earth-based expression. Take a human to different planets and different times, and to the end of the universe itself, and they would still ask where in the 'world' they were. It was so very quintessentially human, he thought fondly.

Actually, he was wondering where they were headed himself. The crowd had left the town's cobbled streets behind, and was headed into a wooded area with a winding dirt path in groups of twos and fours.

There was an air of nervous excitement among the crowd that was making the Doctor a little worried. In his experience, this sort of nervous energy usually lead to trouble. But it also piqued his curiosity, and made him want to stay despite his worry.

"Let's keep following, we're bound to find out," he said in response to Rose's question, "after all, we really have already found out. We're seeing ourselves having an adventure. We're actually watching ourselves figure out where these people are going. It's already happened, you know."

Rose shook her head at him, and laughed.

"At least this is one adventure we can't get in trouble in," she said.

"_We_ can't, no. But our past selves defiantly got into some sort of trouble. This'll be a change, won't it? Watching ourselves get into trouble?"

Rose smiled again, but did not answer. The crowd had come into a large clearing surrounded by tall trees that looked slightly forbidding in the light of the huge bonfire that stood blazing in the middle of the space. All around stood medium sized, white canvas tents. They were tall enough to stand up in, with pointed roofs and a flap covering the entrance. A space around the bonfire was clear of everything but people.

The Doctor spotted his younger self, and steered Rose closer so they could observe. The Brown Doctor seemed to be talking to one of the locals, who was wearing fancy robes, and what looked like high heal shoes which made him taller than the others.

"Here you are," this strange person was saying, handing the Brown Doctor an ornately carved cup. All around, people were holding similar cups and drinking.

Purple Rose looked at the cup skeptically.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked, as the Brown Doctor held it up to his nose, "there may be something in it."

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and buzzed the cup.

"No poisons," he stated, "low alcohol level. Vitamins and minerals, even. Seems safe. Maybe even healthy." He took a sip, "tastes alright. Sweet. Here, have some." He handed the cup to Purple Rose, who cautiously sipped from it.

The older Rose winced.

"Rule number one of space travel: _never_ drink something from an alien planet, no matter what the resident sonic screwdriver tells you," she said.

"That's not rule number one. Rule number one is never wander off. Rule number two is never drink alien alcohol," the older Doctor replied, "besides, the sonic screwdriver says it's hardly alcoholic at all." He peered over his younger self's shoulder to read the screen of the sonic screwdriver.

The older Rose shrugged. "I just really hope Jonathan wasn't conceived because we were both drunk. Otherwise you owe me big time."

"I hope so too. I would never forgive myself for taking advantage of you like that." The Doctor said seriously, squeezing her hand again.

The alien with the high rises on his shoes was still talking to their younger selves.

"I hope you enjoy it tonight. I assume the celebration of the moon is why you came..?" he said.

"Oh yeah. Sure." The Brown Doctor said, "Love the moon. Nice moon you have on this planet."

"Excellent," said the alien, "Drink your drink, enjoy the dance. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. My name is Drazel. We weren't expecting you, but I think we can accommodate one more couple. We always set up a few extra just in case."

The Brown Doctor nodded absently, and took another drink of his cup. He looked around for Purple Rose, and spotted her a few feet away, closer to the fire. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he approached her, handing the cup back to her.

"Here, you drink the rest. Little bit too sweet for me," he said.

Purple Rose tipped the glass back, and drank the remaining liquid. Her eyes returned to the fire, where couples seemed to be dancing to the high, sweet music of an instrument that sounded a little like a violin and a guitar combined. She swayed gently to its beat.

"Care to dance?" the Brown Doctor asked, grinning at her.

"Wasn't sure if this regeneration _could_ dance. I knew the other one could, but this whole tall and gangly thing you have going on, I thought maybe you would be a bit clumsy." She said.

"I'll take that as a challenge," the Brown Doctor replied, taking her hands and leading her into the couples.

The older Rose watched from a distance as her younger self began to dance with a younger Doctor. She grinned, and turned to her own Doctor.

"You're pretty good in this regeneration," she said.

"I was pretty good in the old one too!" the Doctor said indignantly, "I just needed to get warmed up,"

"Sure, sure. I wonder how long it's going to take for something to happen," Rose hugged herself, and bounced on the balls of her feet. It was getting colder, and she was only dressed in a tank top and her pajama bottoms.

"How come I'm cold?" she asked suddenly, "this is a memory."

The Doctor shrugged off his blue suit jacket, and placed it over her shoulders. He had taken off his overcoat when he had first arrived at the mansion.

"It may be a memory, but you were cold then. It stands to reason that you'd be cold now."

"Can you feel anything?" she asked.

The Doctor shook his head. "Not my memory," He explained.

"Will I feel whatever she's feeling?" Rose asked, jerking her thumb towards her younger self, whom the Doctor in the memory was spinning around.

"Just heat and cold I think," the Doctor said, putting his arm around her shoulders to help warm her up. It looked like it had been a cool night, although he himself could feel nothing.

"Hey, look at that!" Rose exclaimed, watching several of the couples leave the dance by the fire. They were still laughing, their arms around each other, as each entered a white tent, the flaps closing behind them.

As the Doctor and Rose watched, more and more couples began to leave. They watched as they themselves began to head towards a white tent, laughing and holding hands.

"Uh oh. I don't like the look of that," The Doctor said, his face darkening. He sincerely hoped Rose was right, and their younger selves weren't intoxicated and about to do something stupid, but it was beginning to look that way.

Rose looked troubled as well as their younger selves entered a tent. She hesitated at the opening flap.

"Maybe we shouldn't follow them in," she said. "I think we can guess what happens in there." She was starting to look a little flushed, and she took off his jacket, handing it back to him.

"You warm?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Very. Which means…. she is too," Rose's already flushed cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red.

"Rose, I… I'm sorry. For what he is doing. For what I did." The Doctor was mortified. He had got Rose drunk, and then got her pregnant. It was all his fault for telling her the drink was safe.

Rose looked up at him, and smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Don't be sorry. I loved you then like I love you now, and you know what? Jonathan is the best thing that ever happened to me- besides you. If it wasn't for him, I think I would have given up a long time ago. He was a little piece of you that I got to hold close to me. This…. whatever this was, I'm sure the me in there doesn't feel taken advantage of."

The Doctor hugged her back with all his strength. He still felt angry with himself, and nothing Rose could say would ease that, but what she said made sense. She was the most amazing woman in the whole universe to forgive him.

The scenery around them began to fade slowly, everything became blurry until it all turned black. Then, in an instant, it changed to blinding brightness.

The Doctor threw one hand up against the sudden light, the other still firmly around Rose, sheltering her from whatever was coming now. He adjusted to the brightness faster than Rose did, so he was able to see around them sooner. They were in the same spot as before, only now it was morning.

"What happened?" Rose asked, from the folds of his shirt where she had buried her face against the sudden light.

"You fell asleep. I think you've just woken up now."

They heard a commotion in the tent next to them.

An exclamation, a curse, a flurry of activity, and the Doctor's younger self emerged, the buttons on his dress shirt only buttoned half way up. Following him was Purple Rose, who was hastily buckling up her belt as she went. Both looked upset.

"I think we're about to find out what happened last night," the Doctor said. Rose nodded, squinting as she pulled away from him. They followed the other two as they marched over to the dying embers of the fire, where Drazel was poking the ashes. He was dressed in more ordinary robes today, and seemed to have taken off his high shoes.

"Good morning, my friends. I trust last night was fruitful?" he greeted them cheerfully, unaware of the Brown Doctor's stormy demeanor.

"What did you do to us?" the Brown Doctor demanded harshly.

"Do to you?" Drazel asked, confused.

"We drink your drink, dance around, and wake up the next morning in bed together. How did that happen?" Purple Rose asked, her pretty features twisted in anger.

"I do not understand. Was that not what you wanted when you came to the fertility festival?"

"_Fertility festival_?!" Purple Rose screeched, horror written across her face.

"Of course," Drazel said, still confused, "I thought that was why you came to our fair planet."

"What was in that drink?" the Brown Doctor demanded.

"A love draught. To loosen inhibitions and create feelings of affection in couples."

"Let me see some of that!" the Brown Doctor said, scowling. Drazel produced a vial from inside his robes, and handed it over.

The Brown Doctor fiddled with the controls of the sonic screwdriver before once more examining the drink.

"Chemicals to alter the brain chemistry of the drinker so they feel love for one another, chemicals to release serotonin, chemicals to… inhibit memory recall? What did you drug us with?"

"You mistake me," Drozel said, looking upset and apologetic, "My people are telepaths," when he saw the Doctor's raised eyebrow, he shook his head, "You may well be skeptical. We keep it firmly under control. It is very rude to pry into another's mind. It is our gift, but it is also our curse. It makes intimacy very… complicated. Being as intimate as procreation is, it is very difficult not to get tangled up in the emotions and thoughts of the other person. It makes long term relationships very hard. So, centuries ago, my ancestors thought of a way that we could procreate without getting caught up telepathically with another person. Every year, on the festival of the moon, those people wishing to procreate gather in certain assigned spots. They pick another of the opposite gender, and drink. The drink enhances their feelings of love for the other person. They procreate. In the morning, the inhibitors in the drink stop them from remembering the feelings and thoughts of the other person, as well as the night in general. It happens almost as soon as they wake up. I cannot think why it didn't happen with you."

"Slightly different physiology. So we accidentally drank a love potion?" the older Doctor asked, although Drazel could not hear him.

"Love potion? That's a bit Harry Potter, isn't it?" Rose muttered beside him.

"Did you like book 7?" the Doctor asked.

"I cried. A lot," Rose replied, before they both turned back to their younger selves.

"Slightly different physiology," the Brown Doctor was saying, mimicking the words his older self had said only two seconds ago, "I thought there was something unusual about this place, heard a bit of a buzzing in my mind, but I thought it was just one of the TARDIS' circuits malfunctioning."

"This is going to change everything, isn't it?" Purple Rose said, turning away from Drazel and to her Doctor, ignoring his rambling about a slight telepathic interference.

"Yes." He said simply, not meeting her eyes.

"Am I to understand this is not what you wanted to happen?" Drazel asked, looking from Purple Rose to the Brown Doctor, then back again.

"This is _not_ what we intended to happen when we came to this planet, no." the Brown Doctor said.

"There is an easy way out of this," the alien said, still looking at them, "You could forget this ever happened."

"Not so easy to forget something like that," the Brown Doctor said, still avoiding his Rose's eyes.

"You cannot mentally block it? Of course not, you do not seem to have our sort of telepathy. And the drugs in the drink do not work either. There is, however, one other option. I could remove it from your mind telepathically."

Both figures in front of him looked up sharply.

"You can do that?" the Brown Doctor asked, a little bit too eagerly. Purple Rose looked crushed, but he was looking at Drazel and didn't see it.

"The memory would not be completely gone. If I was to do that, it would damage your minds. But I can make it so indistinct that you not remember what happened here exactly. It would seem like an ordinary day. Is that satisfactory?"

"Yes, I think so," the Brown Doctor replied. He turned to Purple Rose, who quickly schooled her features, "is that alright with you?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure. I mean, I don't want things to change between us." She said quietly, keeping her face blank.

Watching now, the Doctor could tell that it hadn't been alright at all. He was amazed that he had been so blind to Rose's distress. Watching it now, it made sense. He was practically telling her he wished that whole night had not happened, and that he did not want her. Something he knew for a fact was not true at all. He knew he had loved her then, but he hadn't wanted their relationship to become awkward.

He leaned towards his Rose, and kissed her forehead.

"I loved you then," he said, "I didn't know if you felt the same way. I wanted our adventures to carry on the way they always had."

The older Rose, his Rose, leaned into him, and smiled.

"I know," she said.

Her younger self didn't. Purple Rose looked utterly miserable, until Drazel touched both their foreheads gently.

"Hello then," said the Brown Doctor cheerfully, his entire demeanor changing instantly, "what're we doing here?"

"I was just showing you where we hold our annual midsummer celebrations, Doctor," said Drazel in a polite voice, "but I must continue with my duties. I believe you came from the direction of the market..?"

"Sure did," said Yellow Rose. She tugged on her Doctor's arm, "You didn't even let me buy anything," she complained, as the two walked out of the clearing.

The Doctor pulled them out of the memory. Back on the couch, Rose looked a little disoriented once again.

"Mystery solved," she said, once she had gotten her bearings again.

He nodded, guilt flooding him once again. He had done this to her, and then he had forced her to forget all about it, leaving her to wonder months later how she could possibly be pregnant.

"Hey," Rose said, stroking on of his cheeks gently, "No regrets, remember?"

Her touch was velvety soft and gentle as a butterfly's wings.

The Doctor smiled, kissing her raised hand. "No regrets," he agreed, "Besides, something good came of it. Jonathan came of it. But can you ever forgive me for forcing you to forget it?"

"Always," Rose said, smiling.

"Well, that answers a lot my questions. But I still have one: if you knew about Jonathan when we said goodbye, why didn't you tell me about him?"

A/N: Sorry this is rather late! I went on holiday, and subsequently wrote three whole chapters at once, so the others will not be as late.

So, there is the long-awaited explanation for Jonathan's birth. I hope no one is too disappointed. It actually turned out rather differently than I planned, but I'm pleased with it. I apologize if it got a little confusing with two sets of Doctors and Roses running around, but I do hope you were able to follow along tolerably. I really liked the idea of 'falling into' a memory. Think Pensieve from Harry Potter.

A million thanks to my wonderful boyfriend, who, when I was having a lot of trouble with this chapter, gave me the excellent advice to just go to bed and think about it tomorrow. He said it would all turn out fine, and he was right.


	11. Explanations

Rose looked guilty.

"I couldn't tell you about Jonathan on Bag Wolf Bay," she admitted, "I tried to, and then at the last minute I told you it was Mum instead of me."

"Why?" the Doctor asked, looking confused, "didn't you think I wanted Jonathan? Because no matter how he was conceived, Jonathan is my son and I want him."

Rose sighed. She had regretted her decision not to tell the Doctor about his son many times since Bad Wolf Bay. It was difficult to explain to him why she hadn't, especially with him looking at her with that wounded expression.

"I just… you said you burnt up a sun to say goodbye to me. You said it was impossible for you to come back without shattering two universes. I knew if you knew you had a son, you would do it, to get to him. If you knew that I was pregnant, you would do anything to get back to us, and I couldn't risk two whole universes. I couldn't be that selfish."

"Oh Rose," the Doctor said simply. Taking off his suit jacket, he folded it up and draped it over the back of the couch before sitting down once again. He ran his hand through his hair so that it stood up on end, comically.

"I wish you had told me, but you're probably right. I would have felt worse about leaving you behind, and I would have forced my way into that universe to get to you, never mind that it would tear a hole in the fabric of space time. As it was I… but never mind that. I know about him now, and we even know how he was conceived. Never mind that it was because we were under alien influences and then forgot…"

He stopped talking abruptly when Rose's smile vanished, and she poked him in the chest.

"Don't think that I'm not still furious at you. How could you make us forget? And without even asking me, really! How could I say 'no I don't want to forget' when you were so eager? You as good as told me that I didn't matter to you!"

The Doctor blinked at this rapid change in mood.

"Hey!" he said, defending himself, "You said you forgive me."

"I do forgive you. But that doesn't mean I'm not mad." Rose looked down at her lap. Her next words were so soft that the Doctor almost didn't catch them.

"I was so angry at you in the beginning. You left me, and I was pregnant and alone, and scared. But I've had eight years to come to terms with that. And you know what I've learned in all that time? It's that life is too short to be angry forever. You're here, you came back, and _that's _what matters. So I _have_ forgiven you. And I love you. But if you ever make a decision like that for me again, I will kill you. Got it?" she glared at him fiercely.

The Doctor nodded fervently.

"I'm sorry. So, so sorry," he said sincerely.

Rose gave him a small smile, and he returned it with a mega-watt one.

"I love you," he reminded her. Then, as if he had just remembered it, "and Jonathan. I love him too."

A look of wonderment passed over his face. "A son," he said, "I have a son. I'm a father again. I don't think I can quite get that through my head."

"You'll get used to it," chuckled Rose, "It took me a good six months to get used to being Jonathan's mother. The whole thing was such a shock. You have no idea how much of a relief it is to know how he…. came to be. Thought it might be something weird to do with Bad Wolf, yeah? Or something alien and strange. Guess I was half right. Alien drink."

They both smiled at each other. The Doctor leaned back on the couch, swinging his feet up and pulling Rose beside him so that she was half on top of him.

Rose snuggled into him, breathing in his unique scent. His shirt was scratchy against her face, but so comforting and familiar.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's nearness. The Doctor absently played with a strand of Rose's hair.

"Tell me about him," he said suddenly.

Rose opened her eyes, confused for a moment. "Who?" she asked.

"Jonathan. I missed eight years of his life. Tell me everything about him."

Rose paused before answering. "Everything? That's a lot to tell. Where do I even start?"

"How bout his name. Why did you name him Jonathan?" the Doctor asked.

"I named him after you," Rose said, grinning.

"After me? His first name is Doctor?" she shook her head, an amused expression on her face,  
"Rose, love, I hate to tell you, but Jonathan is not my name," he said.

Rose giggled. "I know that. But when you needed a name you called yourself John Smith. So I called your son Jonathan, after _that_. Jonathan Gallifrey Tyler."

The Doctor choked on a sip of his tea that he had taken. Rose obligingly thumped him on the back. It was a few moments before he could speak.

"_Gallifrey_? You named our son after my planet?"

"Sure. Why not? It was important to you. He is important to me. I just wanted to be reminded of you every time I said his name. But I didn't need to bother. He's so much like you that I'm reminded all the time,"

The Doctor looked pleased at this. "Is he?"

"Oh yeah. Always tinkering with things, always building strange creations. As the Deputy Head of Torchwood, I would have to confiscate that radio he made for a science project if he wasn't my son. It picks up alien radio chatter sometimes. It would be a threat to national security except, well, Jonathan's half alien, so _he's _a threat to national security all by himself. "

"I saw the radio. It's very nice. Needs a bit of tidying up, but for a kid he did really well. Tell me more," the Doctor seemed eager to learn as much as he could about the son he hadn't known he had.

"He blew up a computer today."

At this, the Doctor grinned widely, "That's my boy!" he said proudly.

Rose laughed. "I don't know what he did, but it just exploded. He said he just touched it."

The Doctor sat straight up suddenly, jerking Rose out of her comfortable position on his lap.

"What?" she asked, concerned. She could practically see the wheels turning inside the Doctor's head.

"How old did you say Jonathan was turning?" he asked.

"Eight tomorrow," Rose checked her watch before amending, "Today."

"Eight years… hmmm." He turned to her, his expression thoughtful.

Rose shifted her position, and began to work her finger through the Doctor's messy hair. His eyes closed in pleasure for a few moments, and then he moved away.

"Don't do that," he said.

Rose grinned, poking her tongue in between her teeth. "Why not?"

"I can't think when you do that,"

"You think too much," she shot back her fingers inching their way back through his hair

He lay silent for a few moments longer, before his eyes lit up.

"Eight! Rose, that's it!"

She shook her head in response to his exclamation, "I have no idea what you are talking about,"

"Eight is when Time Lords come of age. At eight, we are taken from our families and inducted into the Academy. It's the age when we first look into the Vortex. But there is no Academy anymore. There was no one monitoring Jonathan when he came of age. Don't you see? It was Jonathan who opened the hole in the fabric of space that allowed the TARDIS to come through. You said he blew up a computer. Well, that was just one way of manifesting it. The TARDIS picked up another Time Lord signal through the gap- that's what brought me here before I knew it was your universe." He said all of this very fast, more thinking out loud than actually talking to Rose. But through sheer practice, she had understood most of what he said.

"So… Jonathan is a Time Lord? And he opened the hole you got through?" she summed up.

"Yes! Of course! I can't believe it! Rose, I'm not the only Time Lord left! The Face of Boe was right, I'm not alone!" he grinned manically and hugged her.

Rose laughed along. His excitement was catching, and she knew how important this was for him. He was no longer the last of his people.

They snuggled back down on the couch, side by side.

"What else?" the Doctor prompted.

"What else do you want to know about him?"

"Anything. Everything. I want to know all about him. I missed it all."

"He loves astronomy. He is very, very curious. He can eat four hot dogs in a row. He's light years ahead of everyone in his class."

The Doctor snorted, "_That's_ no surprise. He _is_ my son, after all."

Rose ignored the interruption, "He wants to know you more than anyone in the whole world. He's requested stories about you since he was old enough to talk. He…" she yawned widely. The excitement was beginning to get to her as the initial adrenaline rush wore off. "He… loves fast rides at the amusement park."

Rose rested her head on the Doctor's chest and closed her eyes.

"Please be here when I wake up," she whispered, more to herself than to him.

As she drifted off to sleep, she felt him gently kiss her forehead.

-------------

Jackie usually got up earlier than everyone else in the house. Neither the cook nor the cleaning lady started work until eleven, so Jackie had taken it upon herself to get up before everyone else and cook breakfast. She enjoyed the time to herself, and the quiet of the house. She also usually went around and opened all the blinds on the first floor windows. It was her way of greeting the day.

She set the table first, humming lightly to herself as she set out a bowl for Pete and Jonathan, and a plate for Rose and herself. After a moment's consideration, she set out an extra plate, just in case the Doctor was hungry. She put the kettle on and set the coffee pot, sorting out cutlery and cups. Cereal and milk went on the table next, then bread and marmalade in front of Rose's place, and an apple in front of hers.

She left the kitchen, and began systematically going through the first floor of her house. The large wooden table had been put back in the dining room. The sitting room had been put to rights last night, the last vestiges of the party tidied up and Jonathan's new toys neatly stacked in a corner, waiting for him to come and collect them.

One by one, Jackie went through each room. When she got to the Family Room, she paused at the doorway. The lamp was still on, and crammed onto the couch was her daughter and the Doctor peacefully sleeping side by side. There wasn't much room for the both of them, so Rose was half lying on top of the Doctor, her head resting on his chest, rising and falling with his gentle breathing.

By rights, she should be angry with him. She should be _furious_. This man-this alien- had waltzed into her life and stolen her daughter right from under her nose. He had taken Rose to far away places and spoiled her forever for a normal life. And then, as if that wasn't enough, he had left her- alone, heartbroken, pregnant, and in another universe where he couldn't possibly get to her.

And yet, Jackie couldn't hate him. She had tried many, many times over the last eight years but she just couldn't hate the man her daughter loved. She had seen Rose fall apart without the Doctor, and she couldn't help but be angry at him for coming back just as it seemed Rose was pulling herself together.

Jackie knew without a doubt that the Doctor would ask Rose to travel with him again. She had seen the look in his eyes when he looked at her daughter. It was the same way Pete looked at her. Complete, utter, and unconditional love was in that look. She also knew that Rose would accept, as sure as she knew the sun would be behind those curtains when she opened them.

She did so, with a yank. They slid open, revealing a pale, watered-silk sky, and bright sunshine streaming into the room. Jackie turned off the lamp on the side table, and stood in the sunshine, enjoying the warmth on her face.

It hurt a little to know that Rose would leave her in a heartbeat if the Doctor ever came back, but Jackie knew that there came a time when one's children left the nest, and it was high time Rose went. After all, Rose needed to be with the man that she loved. Jackie had had to deal with the fallout of him leaving, and she would not do it again. Jackie had Pete, as well as Mickey and his family, so she wouldn't be left alone this time.

She sighed as she looked at the sleeping couple. They looked so peaceful. She knew that the Doctor rarely slept, so it was a little strange to see him so completely relaxed, his arms wrapped tightly and protectively around Rose. Jackie picked up a blanket from one of the other couches, and placed it over the two, smiling fondly at them.

The Doctor may have taken Rose away once. He might be about to do it again, as well as also taking her precious grandson, but if Rose was happy, it would be worth it.

Jackie trailed back to the kitchen to start breakfast and maybe, a new chapter of her life.

A/N This chapter is for all of you who had unanswered questions. I trust I haven't forgotten any. I was hoping to wrap a few loose ends up in this chapter, so there'll be lots of room for other things in the coming ones.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed in the past. Your comments are very helpful to me in determining the various methods of telling my little story. A very special thanks, once again, to Grey Lady of Gallifrey, who puts up with my nonsense on a regular basis.


	12. Telling Jonathan

The Doctor woke suddenly. He usually tried to avoid sleep as much as possible, fearing the dreams that came rushing towards him when he closed his eyes and let his body shut down. They had always been bad, but after Rose had left they had become unbearable. So he drove himself to extremes, only sleeping when he was too exhausted to continue.

Just now must have been one of those times. He was dreaming that he had found a way to Pete's Universe, to Rose; that they had a son, and together they had delved into her memory and discovered how their son had come to be; that they had fallen asleep together on her couch…

The Doctor's train of thoughts came to an abrupt halt when something stirred in his arms. He opened his eyes, which until that moment had been clamped shut in an effort to preserve the wonderful dream that he had been having, and stared down at the mass of blond hair that lay across his chest, and was rising and falling gently with his breathing. It took a moment, but he remembered where he was at last. It hadn't been a dream. He _had_ found a way to Rose, and they _did_ have a son. He had a son. He was a _father_.

His smile threatened to engulf his entire face, it was so wide. That little boy in dinosaur pajamas upstairs was his son, and Rose was the boy's mother. And she was sleeping in his arms at that very moment.

He studied Rose's sleeping face, drinking it in. It had been a very long year without her, longer and harder than he was willing to admit, even to himself. But for her, it had been eight. She carried the extra years gracefully. Although her face looked more mature, she could easily have been 24 or 25, not her full 29 years. Motherhood suited Rose.

A feeling of absolute contentment stole over him. It felt right to be here with her. It felt as if now that they were together, nothing could go wrong again.

"Rose! Doctor! Breakfast!"

He had spoken too soon.

Jackie's shrill voice echoed from the kitchen, waking Rose with a jolt.

Rose raised her head, looking up at him with a sleepy smile.

"You're still here," she said.

"You didn't think I'd run off in the middle of the night, did you?" the Doctor asked.

"No, but you might have been a dream," Rose answered, lying her head back down on his chest and holding him tightly.

"After all the trouble I went through to find you again? Not likely." The Doctor hugged her back for a moment longer before sitting up and gently pulling Rose with him.

"Mmmmmm… not ready to get up yet," she grumbled, still leaning on him. Rose never had been much of a morning person and it seemed that several years at the head of a national organization had not changed that.

The Doctor chuckled.

"I think your mum will come after us if we don't make an appearance soon." He said.

"True," Rose looked down at herself, taking stock of her rumpled pajamas and running her fingers through her messy hair. "I must look a fright," she said ruefully.

"You look lovely," the Doctor said honestly. To him, right at that moment, she had never looked more beautiful.

Rose blushed, "Go on," she said dismissively, shoving him lightly with her shoulder.

They stood up together, and a blanket (that the Doctor didn't remember having on the night before) slid to the floor.

"Kitchen's through the door on the left," Rose said, "I'm going to get dressed."

The Doctor kissed her gently before letting her go. Just being able to do that, any time he wished, made him feel giddy with happiness, and left him grinning even after Rose had left the room.

The Doctor snagged his suit jacket, slid his feet into his red Converse trainers, and wandered out of the room in search of the kitchen.

It wasn't hard to find. Jonathan and Pete were seated at the table, cereal bowls in front of them, singing along to the song that was playing on the radio.

"Decided to join us, have you?" Jackie asked as the other two bellowed out the final note of the song.

"Where's Rose?" Pete asked.

"Gone upstairs to get dressed," the Doctor replied. He snagged a piece of toast from Jackie's plate, and began to munch on it. Across the table, Jonathan was covertly shooting Cheerios at his grandfather. His cheeky smile was exactly like Rose's. The Doctor couldn't believe that he hadn't seen the resemblance right away. Now that he looked at Jonathan, the boy was a perfect mix of both Rose and himself.

"What're you grinning at?" Jackie asked, handing the Doctor his own plate and twitching hers out of his reach.

He jerked his head towards Jonathan, who was shielding himself with the cereal box against Pete's onslaught of Cheerios.

"Boys!" Jackie scolded, "Who's going to clean up this mess?" Pete had the decency to look guilty, but Jonathan just smiled, and aimed a round O at his Grandad from behind his bowl.

Jackie sighed, and shook her head at them, "So Rose's told you then, did she?" The Doctor nodded. "All I'm saying is," Jackie continued, "You better be a good dad to him, cos you're going to be taking him away from two very loving grandparents who are going to miss him very much."

"Taking him away?" the Doctor asked cautiously.

"Don't be daft, Doctor. He's got to go with his Mum. There's no question about that. And you'll be taking Rose away from me again, of course."

"I haven't asked her to come with me, and she hasn't accepted," the Doctor replied, raising his eyebrow at Jackie.

Jackie snorted, unimpressed.

"_Of course_ she's going with you, Doctor. She hasn't been happy since she stopped traveling with you. You can't stay in this universe much longer, I'm thinking, and there's no way you're leaving her behind again, so the only thing to do is for her to go with you."

"But you may never see her again!" The Doctor sputtered, astounded at Jackie's change of heart from when he had first taken Rose with him in the TARDIS.

"I know. But I want her to be happy, and she can only be happy if she's with you." Jackie said, before moving off to the stove to see about cooking some eggs.

"You're my mum's friend, right?" Jonathan asked, breaking into the Doctor's thoughts.

The Doctor hesitated for a moment, uncertain. Now was not the best time to let it spill that he was Jonathan's father.

"Yeeeep. Her friend. We've known each other for a long time,"

"How long?" Jonathan asked.

"Well, that's a bit of a complicated question. For me, it's been three years, for her about ten, but that doesn't factor in all the trans-dimensional time jumping we did, or the fact that it's hard to tell time in my ship…" he looked up and saw Jonathan looking skeptically at him, "Ten years?" he finished lamely.

"Oh," Jonathan took another bite of his cereal, "Did you know my Dad?"

Rose chose that moment to walk in, much to the Doctor's immense relief.

Rose looked from one face to another, noting the beseeching look the Doctor was giving her, and the amused glance her mother was shooting at Pete.

She took a deep breath. She had been planning out what to say to Jonathan the whole time she was upstairs, and hadn't come up with any way of doing other than to just come out and say it. She knew she couldn't keep it from him. He been deprived of his father for eight years, and it wasn't fair to keep him waiting another moment.

There was nothing for it. She was just going to tell him.

"Jonathan? I need to tell you something," she said gently.

Jackie caught her eye, and nodded, as if anticipating what Rose had to say to the boy.

"Come on, Pete, love. It's almost time for you to go to work. I'll see you off," she said.

Pete looked down at his half eaten bowl of cereal, and opened his mouth to protest, but shut it quickly when he caught the fierce look Jackie was giving him.

"Right then, off to work. Bye everybody. Have fun with your mum today, Jonathan," Pete came up beside Rose and kissed the top of her head affectionately, "Good luck," he said, so softly that only she could hear it, "and don't go without saying goodbye, or Jackie will be crushed,"

Rose gave a short nod, and Pete and Jackie left the room together, talking quietly.

Jonathan looked expectantly at Rose, who sat down in her mother's vacated chair. Rose swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat, and looked directly at her son.

"Who's the person I tell you stories about at night?" she asked him.

Jonathan furrowed his brow in confusion. "Dad," he said slowly, as if expecting it to be a trick question.

"And after every story what do you say?"

"I wish he was here," said Jonathan immediately.

"Well, today he is. Jonathan, come meet your Dad," she slipped her hand into the Doctor's, and smiled at him. They both turned to Jonathan.

"Hello there," the Doctor said, "I'm your dad." He stood up and walked over to where Jonathan was sitting, holding out his hand for the boy to shake.

"Dad?" Jonathan whispered, his eyes as large as dinner plates.

"Yuuuup," the Doctor said. Then, he turned serious, "I know I haven't been there for you, but that's all going to change. From now on I'm going to be here for you all the time. I want you to know that it wasn't because I didn't want you. I've been stuck far away and I only just figured a way to get back to your Mum and you. I love you, Jonathan,"

Jonathan, who was now standing, looked at the Doctor's offered hand, and then back up at his face. Then, totally ignoring the outstretched arm, he flung himself into the Doctor's arms with a strangled sob. He hugged the Doctor tightly around the neck, so tightly that the Doctor looked as though he were running out of air.

Rose, with tears in her eyes, joined them, so that all three were clinging to each other. They stayed like that for a long moment, until at last Jonathan pulled away.

Swiping his tears away with the back of his hand, Jonathan gave a huge, sunny smile that mirrored the Doctor's own.

"This is the best birthday ever!" he declared.

Rose laughed, and the Doctor grinned, his arm snaking around her waist.

"Do you really have a flying box?" Jonathan asked eagerly.

The Doctor nodded, "It's called the TARDIS. It flies around space and time,"

"And you have adventures, right? Mum told me all about the adventures you and she had. Only she said you used to look a lot different, and wear and leather coat and have big ears."

"I didn't think they were so big," the Doctor said, thoughtfully, "Tell you what, Jonathan, how would you like to travel with me in my TARDIS?"

If possible, Jonathan's eyes grew bigger.

"Really? And go on adventures and fight evil villains, and save the world?" he asked breathlessly.

"Only if your Mum says it's ok," The Doctor turned to Rose, "What do you say, Rose? Come with me again?"

Rose couldn't help but notice the insecurity evident in his voice. He was worried that she would refuse him, that she would turn down being with him to live her mundane life in an alternate universe.

"What do ya think, Jonathan? Travel in time and space with Dad? Or stay here and go back to school?"

Jonathan didn't even hesitate.

"Travel with Dad!"

"I think you have your answer," Rose said, leaning her head on the Doctor's shoulder.

"That's a yes then?" he asked, with a laugh in his voice.

"That's a yes," Rose confirmed.

"Can we go _now_?" Jonathan asked, bounding away from the table and half way to the door before either parent could say anything.

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer, but Rose was quicker.

"Why don't you go upstairs and see if there're some clothes and toys you want to take, yeah?" She said.

Jonathan nodded enthusiastically, and raced out of the room.

Rose sighed as she watched him disappear around the corner.

"He doesn't realize that it means leaving his grandparents forever. We'll never get to come back. You'll seal the hole behind us, and that'll be it."

"You could stay," The Doctor said, looking straight into her eyes. He was trying hard to keep the pain out of his voice, but Rose could hear it.

"I made my choice a long time ago," she reminded him, "It's just that I'm worried how Jonathan will take it,"

The Doctor put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him gently.

"He'll be fine. We'll take him on so many adventures that he might not mind it so much. Besides, he and I have a lot of catching up to do,"

"He's only eight, remember, Doctor? We can't go throwing him into dangerous situations with aliens and things exploding just yet."

"But he's my son. He can handle it," the Doctor boasted. Then, he gave a slight frown, "Suppose you'll want to pack some things too."

Rose nodded, "Yeah, just a few clothes and things."

She unexpectedly threw her arms around him once more and pulled him into a hug.

"I can't believe I'm going with you again!" she squealed.

He laughed, "It'll be like old times again. You, me, and a mini-me! Let's go!" He pulled her arm, making for the door.

Rose hesitated, "Oh no! I can't go with you!"

A/N The funniest thing happened to me when I was watching a rerun of Gridlock with my 12-year-old brother. When he heard the Face of Boe tell the Doctor that he was not alone, my brother turned to me and said,

"He means Rose's baby, doesn't he?"

I was totally surprised, because I haven't told anyone in my family about this story (it's sort of my dirty little secret) and after all, he's a 12-year-old boy and they're not known to be that observant when it comes to matters of romance.

So I replied, "Why do you think it's Rose's baby?"

"Well, she said that before, didn't she? 'there's five of us now, Mum, Pete, Mickey, me, and the baby.' So the Face must be talking about the baby."

You could have knocked me down with a feather. To be honest, I had no idea he was so perceptive. I just thought he liked all the fighting and technobabble in the show. Who knew my kid brother was a Ten/Rose shipper? It must run in families :-)


	13. TARDIS

_The Doctor laughed, "It'll be like old times again. You, me, and a mini-me! Let's go!" He pulled her arm, making for the door. _

_Rose hesitated, "Oh no! I can't go with you!"_

The Doctor's eyes widened in fear.

"Why not?" he asked gently.

"I've gotta say goodbye to Mickey first!" Rose said, not realizing the panic she had caused the Doctor until she saw him look visibly relieved.

"Is that all? You almost gave me a heart attack! Both at once."

Rose shook her head, "I can't go running off just yet. I've always promised Mickey that I wouldn't just leave him this time. That I would say goodbye first."

"We can do that," the Doctor said, "Tell you what, let's go get the TARDIS, and say goodbye to Mickey. Then, we can come back here, get your things, and be off, hmm?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. But we're taking Jonathan with us. The last time you took me for a short trip, I was gone for 12 months, and I'm not leaving him behind."

The Doctor flinched at the memory.

"That wasn't my fault!" he protested, as they walked out of the kitchen, the Doctor snagging another piece of toast on the way out.

It didn't take long for Rose to pack a bag. Just a few of her favorite clothes: toothbrush, make up, various odds and ends, all stuffed in a large hiking back pack. Out of an ornamental box on the dresser she took an ordinary looking key on a silver chain. She slipped it over her head, and closed her fist around the metal, feeling the warmth that seemed to radiate from it.

Coming down the stairs, she found the Doctor and Jonathan already deep in conversation about how the TARDIS flew.

"Mum!" Jonathan said excitedly as she stepped off the last stair, "Did you know that the TARDIS flies because of a Flux Capacitor?"

"Doctor…" Rose said reproachfully, rolling her eyes at him.

He shrugged, "What? That's what I call it."

Jackie gave the Doctor a severe look as he went out the door.

"Don't take her away from me just yet," she said, pointing a finger at the Doctor.

"Don't worry, Mum. We're only going to get the TARDIS and bring it back here," Rose said.

"Yeah, well, we all know how reliable that thing is," Jackie snapped back.

Rose wasn't offended by her mother's short temper. She knew it was only out of a worry that she would disappear with the Doctor and not come back, as she had once done.

"Where did you leave that machine of yours?" Pete asked, leaning on the doorframe, his briefcase in hand.

"Right near Canary Warf," The Doctor replied.

Pete nodded, "I can give you a ride there, if you want. I'm going to work anyways."

The Doctor gave a brief nod.

It should have only taken a half hour to get there, but traffic was bad and they were held up. The Doctor and Jonathan were still engaged in a rapid fire conversation about how the TARDIS flew, Jonathan always having been fascinated by the subject and never receiving a satisfactory answer from Rose, who frankly had no idea how the TARDIS worked; Pete kept pointing out that it was useless to try to explain temporal physics to an eight-year-old, as he would never understand it.

Rose wasn't listening. She kept staring resolutely out the window. One thought was circling around her head: what was she going to say to Mickey?

Mickey had always expected the Doctor to show up at any time. In his own subtle way he was constantly reminding Rose not to give up hope. It must have been a byproduct of the year when she had completely vanished. He had been so focused on finding her, so full of hope that she would return to him that he had gotten into the habit of hoping. And somehow, of everyone, he had been the one who never gave up on the Doctor. Rose had almost totally given up in the year after Jonathan was born, but Mickey, strangely, never had.

"Torchwood Building, finally!" Pete's voice cut through Rose's thoughts.

Rose looked up. Her forehead had been leaning against the window, her gaze pointed down at her lap. Anticipation bubbled up inside of her at the thought of seeing the beloved old blue box again.

"Where is it?" Jonathan asked, scanning the sidewalk in front of the building.

"Just a block or so away," the Doctor replied, gallantly opening the door for Rose. He offered her his arm with a flourish. "Shall we be off?"

Rose couldn't help laughing at his antics.

"This may be the last time I see you, Rose," Pete said to her aside, taking care that Jonathan couldn't hear.

She nodded, sobering. Pete had grown to mean a lot to her in the last eight years. He was a good man, and he had taken on the responsibility of having Jonathan as a grandson, and Rose as a daughter with no complaints.

"I know I'm not your real Dad, but I love you like I was, you know that right?" he asked. She nodded, and hugged him tightly. He shook the Doctor's hand gravely, then turned to Jonathan.

"Goodbye Jonno. Love you," he said gruffly.

"Love you too Grandad. See you soon!" Jonathan said, unaware that this could be the last time he would see his grandfather.

Rose watched as Pete stooped to kiss Jonathan's cheek, and then straightened. He walked to the Torchwood building without looking back.

The Doctor was grave and silent for a moment. Then, he seized Jonathan's hand, and held out his other for Rose.

"Off we go then?"

"Yeah," Said Rose, smiling.

The TARDIS was a good three blocks from Torchwood Tower, but it took them much less time than Rose had thought it would. She had wanted to see the TARDIS, in its familiar Police Public Call Box form, for so long that it felt surreal to finally be on her way to it.

They rounded the corner, and there it was, standing up against a building, looking out of place among all the gray concrete and reflective glass of urban London. The crowd that rushed past didn't seem to think so. They completely ignored the box as if it wasn't there.

The Doctor walked up to it with determined strides. Rose followed. She stopped a few feet in front of it, staring at its blue paint, marveling.

"Do the honours?" The Doctor asked her.

Rose nodded, and pulled out her key. It was almost as if the two others stood on ceremony as she slid her key into the lock. It clicked open easily, and with shaking hands she pulled open the doors and stepped inside.

"Welcome home," The Doctor said in her ear

The TARDIS was just the same. She had been afraid for an instant that the Doctor would have redecorated while she was gone. The Control Room, with its rondelles on the walls, its strange coral-like pillars, and its faded captain seats were all just as she had left them eight years ago.

Behind her, the Doctor and Jonathan stepped in, closing the door behind them.

"Whoa!" Jonathan exclaimed. Rose turned to look at him. He was turning round and round, trying to look at everything at once.

"How do you get the outside to fit round the inside?" he asked in astonishment.

The Doctor chuckled.

"_That_ is a very good question," he replied, "I'll tell you sometime. In the mean time, why don't we see if we can find you a bedroom?"

"You mean there are other rooms?" Jonathan asked.

"Oh, yeah," Rose said, looking fondly at her son, "there are lots. Didn't I tell you that?"

"Come on," the Doctor said, placing his hand on Jonathan's shoulder, "let's see what the old girl has for you,"

Rose followed, wandering down the familiar corridors of the TARDIS. She reached the door that had always been hers, and opened it with a shove of her hand.

She started back in surprise. Behind that door was not her old disorganized pink-decorated room, but another one, quite unlike it. It was smaller than hers had been, with a neatly made bed in one corner, a large mirror facing the door, and a desk with a few stray pieces of paper littering it. Rose picked one up and read it.

_"__The __human skeleton__ consists of both fused and individual __bones__ supported and supplemented by __ligaments__tendons__muscles__ and __cartilage__. Fused bones include those of the pelvis and the cranium. __Osteocytes__ are present in the bone matrix." _

It went on like this for several pages of neat, slanted handwriting. Rose put the sheets down, shaking her head. It wasn't the Doctor's looping, untidy scrawl, that was for sure. He may be the Doctor, but he wasn't actually a _real_ doctor.

Roses stood in the middle of the tidy, bare room, puzzled.

"Doctor?" she yelled, not turning around.

The Doctor's footsteps echoed down the long hall of the TARDIS, and the door squeaked as he pushed it open further.

"You bellowed?" he asked mildly.

"Who's room is this?" Rose asked, turning to him.

His brows furrowed.

"Martha," he said, his expression clouding over for a brief moment, "I haven't told you about her yet. She was my companion for a while. She's only just left."

"What happened to my room? Is it still here?" she asked, concerned. Somehow, in her mind, her room and her continued presence on the TARDIS were linked.

"It's still here. I asked the TARDIS to move it down the hall. Somewhere where Martha couldn't go wandering into it. It… it hurt too much to walk past it, and know you weren't inside," the Doctor said. Then, he brightened up, and took Rose's hand.

"Let's go see if we can find it," he grinned.

They stepped outside of Martha's room, and closed the door. On an impulse, Rose laid her hand on the dark oak wood of the doorframe, and felt the familiar tingling rush of psychic energy in her mind.

"I think it's here," she said. Without another thought as to how she knew, she pushed open the door once more. Behind it was a bright splash of pink, and a homely, chaotic mess. She smiled and ran inside.

"This is more like it!" she exclaimed. Dumping her large hiking backpack full of stuff on the bed, she ran around, reacquainting herself with everything in the room. From off the floor, she pulled a metallically bright t-shirt with the Union Jack- Union Flag, she reminded herself- emblazoned on the front.

"I don't know what I was thinking with this one," she said, holding it up.

The Doctor chuckled.

"I rather liked that on you. I wouldn't mind seeing you wear it again," he said, with a wink and a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.

Rose just laughed, and threw it on the bed. Which, she noticed, was still unmade.

"You didn't change anything. You left it just like it was when I left," she noted, looking around. Even the mess was the same: things scattered all over the floor, the dresser full of half open – and now dried up – makeup.

"I couldn't bear to change it. This stuff was all I had left of you," the Doctor said, with a sad smile. Rose moved into his arms and hugged him tightly. Her leaving must have left him so alone, even more alone than he had been before her.

The moment was broken when Jonathan rushed in.

"Mum, you've got to see the great things in my room… whoa! This is your room? And you keep saying _I_ have to clean up!" he said, looking around.

Rose detached herself from the Doctor's arms to cuff their son lightly on the back of the head.

"That was before I had children to make rude remarks," she replied, but her twinkling eyes gave away her solemn demeanor.

"You wanna come see my room?" Jonathan asked again, "I think there's a secret passageway behind a panel in the corner,"

The Doctor looked a little guilty, "Show me?" he said, shooting Rose a concerned look. Rose just rolled her eyes.

"I'll come see your room in a minute, yeah? I just have to say hello to the TARDIS first," Rose said as the Doctor and Jonathan retreated.

She made her way to the control room. Everything about the ship felt like coming home, but it was hard to believe she was actually there until she stepped once more into the circular room, with the round control hub in the center.

Rose walked up to the main controls and ran her hands along the panel. The TARDIS hummed happily, and Rose felt again the familiar sensation of the ship's telepathic field in her mind. It felt very much as if the TARDIS was welcoming her back.

"I missed you too," she said softly, allowing her fingers to trace familiar controls. Then, she laughed out of the sheer joy of just being there once more. She felt as light hearted as a child, as if she could just fling her arms out and twirl around the Control Room. She waltzed a few steps around the consol, spinning around, before stopping in front of the screen.

The smile left her face, replaced by puzzlement. Her eyes scanned the text to the side of the screen, reading the translated Gallifreyan text as fast as she could.

"I can't believe he found a secret passageway already! But it only goes to the Conservatory, so I've told him as long as he doesn't run into Colonel Mustard with the revolver, he'll be alright." The Doctor came up behind her, his arms encircling her waist and pulling her to him. "He's a good kid, isn't he, Rose. Rose? What're you doing?"

"Take a look at this." Rose replied, not taking her eyes off the screen, "Is this saying what I think it's saying?"

The Doctor came around beside her and fished out his glasses, jamming them onto his nose. His eyes flashed over the text.

Then, he seized Rose around the shoulders and hugged her swiftly.

"Rose Tyler, you genius! How did you figure that out?"

"I didn't figure anything out," Rose said, "It must have done that on its own,"

"That amazing, just amazing! The hole in the universe has tuned itself into the TARDIS' signal. Nothing can get in or out except the TARDIS, with the help of a special signal that we're broadcasting. We won't have to seal the hole for fear that something else will slip through on either side. Do you know what that means? You can visit your Mum any time you want! You don't have to choose between me and your family, you can have both!" he hugged Rose again, and she hugged him back.

"Just this once, Rose, you get both!"

"I didn't do it," she restated, "but I'm glad it's happened."

The Doctor pulled away slightly.

"Do you think Jonathan could have done it?" he asked.

Rose shrugged, "It's possible. We have no idea what he's capable of."

The Doctor nodded, "I've got to start training that boy as soon as possible. Can't have him making holes in the universe every day you know." He smiled down at her, a far off look in his eyes.

He came out of his reverie with a jolt, remembering the task at hand.

"So… Mickey?" he asked.

Rose laughed.

"Mickey," she agreed, typing his address into the TARDIS consol. As the familiar humming of the ship taking off filled Rose's ears, she reflected that there was no lovelier sound in the entire universe.

A/N I'm very sorry this chapter was so late in coming I'd forgotten how much reading school entailed, even at this early point in the year. My hope is that I will finish it before my essays start being due (fat chance, I have one next week).

Well done to gaiafreedom21 and Lady Taevyn for guessing the reason Rose couldn't go was because she had to say goodbye to Mickey first!

If people review, it would make a rather terrible week a lot better.


	14. Goodbyes and Screwdrivers

This was the second time in as many days that the Doctor had stood in front of someone's door, waiting for them to answer. Rose had insisted on saying goodbye to Mickey before they left this universe, so he had obliged. He didn't mind Mickey, after all, and it seemed as though the man had been a great comfort to Rose in the Doctor's absence.

The Doctor hung back, with Jonathan at his side.

"Dad?" Jonathan asked, "Why are we here again?"

"Your Mum wants to say goodbye to Mickey Boy."

"Oh," Jonathan furrowed his brows, thinking.

"But won't we be coming back?" he said again, "Mum said we could come back whenever we wanted, cos the hole in the universe is ok for the TARDIS to get through."

"It is." The Doctor replied, "but she promised Mickey she would say goodbye to him before she left with me."

Jonathan thought about this for a moment.

"Does that mean Uncle Mickey knew you were coming back?"

The Doctor nodded, smiling.

"I think Uncle Mickey knew all along that I would come back to you," he said.

Rose rang the doorbell again, the first time having gone unanswered. She was shifting her weight from foot to foot, and the Doctor could tell -even from behind- that she was nervous. The walk from the TARDIS to Mickey's front door had been full of Rose practicing what she was going to say.

The Doctor had to admit to himself that he was surprised by the size of Mickey's house. It was huge. What could one guy want with such a big, fancy house? Mickey must have gotten a good job at Torchwood.

The door opened, and to the Doctor's surprise a sleepy looking brunette answered, dressed in a housecoat, and balancing a toddler on her hip. His immediate thought was that they had the wrong house, but then the woman spoke.

"Rose? Honey, what's the matter? Why are you here so early?"

"Katherine," said Rose, "can I come in?"

"Sure," the woman said, looking bewildered. She moved aside to allow them to come in. She shot the Doctor a look of confusion as he walked past her.

In the kitchen, they found Mickey, half dressed and munching on some toast, reading the newspaper.

"Who was at the door, love?" he asked, not looking up.

"It's me, Mickey," Rose said, in a quiet voice.

Mickey looked up, and dropped his newspaper in surprise when he caught sight of the Doctor.

"So you're here finally, are you?" he asked, standing up. He walked towards the Doctor. "I should knock you out," he said conversationally.

"Mickey!" Katherine gasped, "Who is this man? How do you know him?"

"I should let you," the Doctor replied in the same conversational tone.

Mickey stepped closer to the Doctor, but instead of hitting him, he grasped his shoulders and gave him a half hug. The Doctor smiled widely, and slapped Mickey on the back.

"Look at you, Mickey boy! This all belong to you?" The Doctor asked.

Mickey nodded, "Katherine, Luke, and another one on the way."

"Congratulations," The Doctor said, "you've really made a life for yourself here,"

"I see you finally found a way back. It took you enough time." Mickey said.

The Doctor shrugged. "Not as much for me as it did for you."

"Who_ is_ this?" Katherine demanded.

"Kath, sweetheart, this is the Doctor," said Mickey, "He's an old friend. I think Rose has come to say goodbye."

Katherine turned to Rose, confusion written all over her face.

Rose gave an inward sigh. Katherine deserved an explanation before she left.

"I used to travel with the Doctor," Rose started, "For two or three years ,I'm never sure how long it was exactly. We went all over the place. I… fell in love with him. Then, we were separated. I got stuck here, and he couldn't get to me. He's only just found me, and he's asked me to travel with him again, and…"

"And how could you say no," Katherine finished. She looked at the Doctor, and then glanced back at Jonathan, "He's Jonathan's father, isn't he?"

Jonathan, who until this moment had been quiet, nodded.

"Yup, this is my Dad. You should see his really cool blue box,"

"Are you ever coming back?" Katherine asked to Rose.

A smile broke out on Rose's face, and she nodded.

"Yeah, we'll be coming back every few months. You'll hardly miss me at all." Rose leaned over to hug her friend.

The Doctor, who had been watching Rose and Katherine, hadn't noticed that Mickey had left the room until the man came back, carrying a manila folder. He handed it to Rose.

"What's this, then?" she asked, opening the folder. Inside, the Doctor could see several typewritten pages. Rose looked up at Mickey, in total shock.

"You wrote out my resignation?" she asked.

Mickey shrugged.

"I knew someday the Doctor would come back and you would want to go swanning off into who-knows-where with him, and you would need to quit your job at Torchwood. So I wrote out your resignation. All you have to do is sign the bottom, and hand it in. Oh, and I named your assistant Amber as your recommendation to replace you."

Rose hugged Mickey tightly, and the Doctor couldn't repress the stab of jealousy that pierced him at the sight of the woman he loved in the arms of her former boyfriend. The feeling lasted only a moment before he brushed it off as being ridiculous.

"Thank you so much Mickey. You never lost faith that he would come back for me. Not even when I did. I'll see you soon, ok? It won't be a year this time I promise."

Mickey nodded, a small smile on his face.

"I'm glad you came to say goodbye this time."

With hugs all around, and a few more goodbyes, Rose, Jonathan, and the Doctor left the Smith house. As they walked, the Doctor slipped his arm around Rose's shoulders.

"You alright?" he asked her.

She gave a small jerk of her head.

"Mickey never gave up," she said softly, "He even had my resignation ready, cos he knew I would have to leave suddenly if you ever came back." She leaned her head gently on his shoulder.

The Doctor gently kissed her forehead, wordlessly expressing his support and love for the woman beside him.

Jonathan turned, and made a face.

"Are you kissing _again_?" he asked, a look of disgust on his face, "Come _on_! I want to fly in the TARDIS. Waaaaay more exciting."

Rose laughed, and the Doctor found himself laughing helplessly as well. Jonathan looked so much like Rose when she was annoyed about something. The Doctor had a feeling he was not going to be able to deny Jonathan or his mother anything.

As the Doctor approached the Torchwood One building, he realized how much he truly loathed the gray façade. Even though Rose had been returned to him, he still hated the place where she had been taken away from him. He repressed a shudder as they passed through the revolving doors. Rose and Jonathan seemed to know where they were going, so the Doctor followed them, aimlessly looking around at the bustle of people dressed in business attire. Several of them nodded to Rose as they got on the elevator. They gave him sideways looks as he slid his hand into Rose's.

The elevator never seemed to stop. They went up twenty floors before Jonathan tugged his arm, pulling him out of the elevator. It seemed like an ordinary block of cubicles that they walked past.

"I come here every day after school and wait for Mum to be done," Jonathan told him.

"Fun," commented the Doctor, looking around at the dull office setting.

Jonathan shrugged.

"It's not too bad. I do my homework, and then they let me take apart computers in the storage room. Then I put them back together and make them better. Only yesterday I blew one up instead of fixing it."

This made the Doctor smile.

"What do you use to take it apart?" he asked.

"My screwdriver mostly," Jonathan replied. He reached into one of the pockets of his jeans and pulled out a shiny new screwdriver. It was only as long as his hand, but he looked at it with an expression of utter pride.

The Doctor grinned broadly.

"You want to see my screwdriver?" he asked. Fishing into one of his own pockets, he reached for the sonic screwdriver, and held it out to show his son. "Be careful," he cautioned, "It's delicate, and you might bump the settings."

"What is it?" Jonathan asked, holding the sonic screwdriver delicately, fascinated by its intricate machinery and glowing light at one end.

"It's a screwdriver just like yours. Only mine works with sound waves that are too high for you to hear. It does the same thing though- unscrews things… opens doors… scans for things…" the Doctor stopped as he realized that Jonathan's mechanical screwdriver could only do one of those things.

But Jonathan wasn't listening anyways. He was running his fingers very gently over the shiny silver surface of the sonic screwdriver, having tucked his mechanical screwdriver carefully back into his pocket once more.

Rose, who by now was far ahead of them, turned back to look at them, motioning the Doctor to hurry up. He pointed at Jonathan. Rose began to walk back.

"Please don't tell me you're comparing notes already," she remarked, rolling her eyes. Then, seeing the way that Jonathan was touching several of the buttons on the sonic screwdriver, she said to him "Jonathan, please give that back to your father and remind him that it is a dangerous tool, not a toy, and you are only eight years old,"

"Awwww… Mum! I just wanna see how it works," Jonathan protested.

"Exactly. I don't want you knowing how that works. Next thing you know you'll be wanting to build a sonic toaster. Now give it back to your father."

The Doctor accepted his sonic screwdriver back without looking at it.

"Sonic toaster… that's a good idea," he said, winking at Rose as he brushed past her. Behind him, he heard her snort of amusement.

Rose's office was large and filled with light. It was also as cluttered as it could possibly be while still looking like a professional's office. Sitting at a smaller desk on the opposite side of the room to the large one covered in folders was a redhead bent over a laptop, her thick-framed glasses perched on her nose. She looked up when Rose walked into the room.

"Ms Tyler! What are you doing here? I thought you were taking Jonathan out for his birthday," she said, standing up.

"Amber, how many times do I have to ask you to call me Rose? And there's been a slight change in plans. Here," she handed Amber the folder.

Amber flipped it open and began to read. Her eyebrows shot up past the rims of her glasses.

"You're resigning?" she asked, incredulously.

Rose nodded, grinning for ear to ear.

"Why?" Amber asked.

"Am, I want you to meet someone. This is the Doctor," Rose said, pointing him out to the red head. The Doctor grasped Amber's uncertain hand and shook it.

"Amber, the Doctor is Jonathan's father." Rose said, a hint of worry creeping into her voice as she told her assistant the secret that for so long she had kept to herself.

"Jonathan's father!" Amber gasped, shocked, "But… but… we all thought he had died. I mean, you never talked about him, you were so sad. And he's here now?"

"Well, I had a little trouble getting here. It's a long story, Amber," the Doctor said. Then, he turned serious. "I would have come sooner if I could." He said.

Amber nodded, unsure of herself. She turned back to the folder in her hands.

"Ms Ty- erm… Rose, this can't be right. It says here you've named me as your replacement."

"That's right," Rose said, keeping her voice as level as she could. The Doctor, who knew every tone and inflection of her voice, thought he could detect some repressed amusement in it.

"I think you deserve it," Rose continued, "You know this whole job like nobody else. We both know you've been practically doing all the paperwork yourself for two years now. And you're way smarter than me. I didn't even get my A-levels. You can do it, Amber."

"What about Mickey Smith?" Amber asked.

"Mickey is already head of his own department, and he keeps whining that it's too much work for him. Trust me, he doesn't want this job. You do. It's a big pay raise. Then you can marry… what's his name, the tech from next door."

"Harry?" Amber asked, the colour rising in her cheeks.

"Yeah, you can marry him, and afford that dream house I know you've been looking at forever. Listen, I have to go and I probably won't be coming back. I know since you have my resignation I'm no longer your boss, but if you could do one more thing for me? Hand that resignation to the Director."

"I will. Where are you going?" Amber asked.

Rose turned towards the Doctor, who stood waiting in the doorway, his hands deep in his pockets. Beside him, Jonathan was leaning against the doorframe, his gaze on the far window. A grin spread over her face.

"I'm going home," she said softly.

A/N If you want to know why this is so late, you can blame my profs and their millions of papers. That being said, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter. It really made my week to get all those nice reviews. There's just an epilogue left, and then this story will be done. Which is a sad thought, but I'm considering writing a sequel, depending on public opinion. Please tell me what you think.


	15. Epilogue

The TARDIS shook violently.

"Hold on to something!" the Doctor yelled, clutching the edge of the console himself, "this is going to be a bumpy ride."

Rose let go of the console long enough to push a wavering Jonathan into the captain's seat. He gripped the arm of the chair hard, his knuckles turning white with the effort of not sliding out of the seat, but he did not seem afraid. His wide eyes were catching everything that was going on, and filing them away for analysis later.

The TARDIS swung sharply, and Rose lost her balance, hurtling into the Doctor's side. He braced himself just in time that they both did not topple over on the floor. For an instant, Rose felt the racing of his two hearts, as he steadied her and set her back on her feet. She couldn't help inwardly smiling at the knowledge that he was enjoying the exhilarating rush of TARDIS travel.

Rose nodded her thanks at his assistance, and carefully made her way back to her position on the opposite side of the consol.

"Hold that button down!" The Doctor yelled across the console.

"Which one?" Rose asked, looking down at the bank of buttons in front of her.

"The green one!"

Rose looked down at the bank of buttons again. They were all green. Rather than asking for further clarification, which she knew would be similarly unhelpful, Rose chose one at random, hoping that it was the one he meant. Another swift movement from the TARDIS shook Rose, but thanks to her firm stance she was not knocked to the ground.

"What's wrong?" she yelled at the Doctor over the noise, "Why is it shakier than usual?"

"The hole in the universe. It may be cauterized, but it's not exactly stable. The TARDIS isn't as young as she used to be, and this hole is pushing her to the limits." The Doctor reached over and pulled another lever, which was almost out of his reach.

"Does it always do this?" Jonathan asked.

"No!" the Doctor said indignantly.

"Yes!" Rose replied at the same time,

"Does not," the Doctor objected, using his foot to press another button.

"Does too and you know it. I can't even remember how many times we've gotten knocked over by the wild ride in this thing," Rose said back, lurching to the other side of the consol to check the screen.

The Gallifreyan words flashing over the screen were translated instantly for her, so that although she saw the twisting, spiral letters, she could read them like perfect English. She had never been able to before, but now the TARDIS seemed to pick up on the shift between the Doctor and her. They had no secrets from each other now.

The TARDIS gave a rattling shudder, and the text on the screen changed suddenly, marching fast and angry across the screen. A mauve light had begun to flash.

Jonathan leapt up from his chair suddenly, and whipping his screwdriver out of his pocket hit the console with the metal end of it. A sharp, clear note rang out above the rattling, and everything grinded to a halt. For a moment, everything was silent. And then:

"What did you do?" Rose asked cautiously.

"I hit it," Jonathan asked, looking shocked that it had worked, "I just thought if I hit it in the right place, the sound would shake things back into place so we could get through."

"Of course… harmonic resonance. Why didn't I think of that?" the Doctor asked, grinning at Jonathan.

"So are we out?" Rose asked.

The Doctor checked the screens, pressing a few more buttons in an arbitrary fashion.

"Looks like it. We're free of the hole and floating in the Vortex right now." He turned to Rose, "We made it!"

He seized her hands and waltzed her around the control platform, until she was out of breath and laughing. A sudden harsh metal grating made him stop.

"That reentry probably damaged a few of the TARDIS' internal systems. I'll have to check them before we can go anywhere," The Doctor said, moving towards the center of the control room again.

Rose gave a little internal sigh. She had forgotten how quickly he switched from one topic to another. One minute he was tender and loving, the next serious and professional. It would take some getting used to again.

The Doctor had taken off a tile of the grating on the floor of the control platform, and was preparing to jump down. Jonathan was watching with fascination.

"Can I help?" he asked.

The Doctor considered his request for a moment, then nodded.

"You have to promise you won't touch anything I tell you not to. The TARDIS is a very old and very delicate time ship, and if you break something I might not know how to fix it. No touching. Deal?"

"Deal." Agreed Jonathan eagerly, his eyes already on the rows of switches and wires below the grating.

Rose had her doubts.

"Doctor, you'll need to keep a close eye on him. The last time he touched something electronic it blew up," she reminded him.

The Doctor just gave her one of his maddening grins.

"That's because I wasn't there," he said confidently, "Besides, he's got to learn the family business some time. Better to start young."

Rose gave a huff of mock annoyance.

"I'll be in my room if you need me," she said, but the Doctor had already disappeared down the hole in the floor.

Rose made her way to her room, now placed back where it belonged beside the Doctor's. She shook her head as she opened the door. She had been so messy back then! With instinct born of eight years of motherhood, Rose began to methodically clean the room, picking up clothes that she had left on the floor years ago, and making the bed.

She wiped the dust off the pictures on the dresser with tenderness, examining each one and recalling fond memories that went with them. There was one of her and Jackie their arms around each other; one of the previous incarnation of the Doctor, leaning with his arms crossed against the TARDIS' blue doors; one of the old Doctor and Jack, with her in between the two of them, which was taken by Mickey in Cardiff; and there was one of the new Doctor and her holding hands as they posed on a beach. Reaching into her pocket, Rose took out a picture she had taken from her room at the Tyler Mansion. It had been taken last Christmas, of Jackie, Pete, Mickey, Katherine, Jake, Luke, Jonathan, and herself around the decorated tree. She gently propped it up with the rest of the photos.

Turning to the closet, she noticed a door that she had not remembered being there. It was exactly like most of the doors in the TARDIS- dark wood with carved Gallifreyan letters up the lintel and doorposts. She stood in front of it for a few moments, before reaching out and trying the handle. It was not locked.

Rose opened the door to find herself in what she knew at once to be the Doctor's bedroom. Bookshelves lined the walls, and books stood stacked in corners, as did bits of wires and metal junk. In front of an ornate fireplace was a high-winged armchair, on which was draped several items of clothing. In the middle of the room was a very large canopied bed, neatly made, with a large patchwork quilt on it, and what appeared to be burnt orange sheets. Rose had only been in the Doctor's bedroom a few times, but it had not changed from what she remembered it. She took a few steps inside.

So engrossed was she in taking in the scene that she did not hear the Doctor's footsteps until he was right behind her.

"It's bigger than your room," he said.

Rose jumped in surprise.

"Don't go sneaking up on me like that! You nearly scared me to death!" she scolded.

He smiled, leaning against the doorframe and surveying the room before him.

"I put this door here," he said, running his hands down the carvings on the side "this one that connects our rooms. It wasn't here before."

"I know," Rose replied, "Why did you?"

"So I could go into your room whenever I missed you too much. I didn't want Martha finding it, so I asked the TARDIS to hide it away, but I couldn't bear being away from things that reminded me of you for very long. So I built the connecting doorway."

He turned to look at her now, his eyes glassy with unshed tears.

"Oh, Doctor," Rose said, taking him into her arms and holding him tightly. It took a moment for him to regain his control. He pulled away from her so that she could see his face once more.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"The door?"

"The room. Do you like it?"

Rose nodded, puzzled as to where he was going with this.

"Good. It's a nice size. Of course, you'll have to spruce it up, but there's plenty of closet space, even for all your clothes. I will move all the books back to the library if you want, and I can get another chair for the fireplace…" The Doctor was talking very fast again.

Rose stared at him in amazement, her thoughts churning at a thousand miles an hour. Was he asking her what she thought he was asking her?

"Are you asking me…?"

"To marry me, yes." The Doctor said. He was looking straight at her, and his eyes were blazing.

"Oh," Rose replied. All the thoughts that had been spinning in her head had immediately vanished, replaced by the all-encompassing truth: the Doctor was proposing.

"I just… I thought you were just asking me to… to move in with you or something," she whispered.

"I want you to be my wife," he said, his tone soft and caressing.

"What about all that stuff about you not being able to spend the rest of your life with me?" Rose asked, breaking his gaze and looking down at his shoulder.

The Doctor took a hand off her waist and pushed her chin back up so that she was looking at him once more.

"I don't care," he said, "I lost you once, and it almost destroyed me. I'm not wasting another minute. I know I will outlive you, but it will be worth it for the time we have together. Marry me?"

Everything in Rose's mind was gone. She could not have formed a sentence if she had wanted to. But she didn't need a whole sentence, just one word.

"Yes!" Rose cried, hugging him fiercely, "yes, yes, a thousand times, yes."

She would have kept repeating it, but the Doctor effectively silenced her.

Rose had thought that the previous kisses she had received from the Doctor were passionate and wonderful, but this one surpassed them all.

When they broke apart, the Doctor was laughing.

"Rose Tyler, my wife!" he cried, picking Rose up and spinning her around until she was dizzy.

A loud cry broke them out of their merriment.

"Did you leave Jonathan alone with the TARDIS?" Rose asked suddenly, her world no longer spinning.

"I thought he would be alright, I gave him some nuts and bolts to unscrew," the Doctor replied, but the merriment was gone from his face.

The both shared a worried glance. Snatching each other's hands, they rushed down the corridor to the control room. Jonathan was sitting on the floor of the control platform, grease on his face, surrounded by wires, holding a nut of triumphantly.

"I got it out!" he said, "It was pretty stuck, but I got it out just like you said, Dad,"

Rose laughed in relief, bending to kiss her dirty son.

"I thought something had happened to you when you yelled," she said, "I was scared for you. Don't do that again, yeah?"

The Doctor, who was checking the screens, spoke before Jonathan could answer.

"All systems appear to be back online. But we're pretty low on fuel. I guess that trip through the universe-hole took more out of the TARDIS than she is willing to admit. I think we have fuel enough for one more trip."

The Doctor turned to face Rose, a manic smile spread all over his face.

"Rose, fancy a trip to Cardiff?"

A/N Fade to black and cue theme music.

Thank you so much to everyone who was read and enjoyed this story! It was a real experience to write it, and I truly enjoyed every moment of it… even the occasional writer's block was a nice change from essays. The reviews have been truly encouraging, and I would like to thank you all for taking the time to review. Also, again, a million thanks to Gray Lady of Gallifrey, without whom this story would just be a mess of typos and spelling mistakes. Stay tuned for a (eventual) sequel.


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